«—- '  r, 

/fe  Source  and  Mode  of 

SOLAR  ENERGY 

Throughout  the  UnVvene 


I  .W.HEYSJNGER,M.A.!M.D. 


REESE  LIBRARY 

<>V  THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


Typical  stages  in  development  of  a  solar  system.  (Reproduced  from 
nature.  See  Chapter  XIII.)— 1.  Newton's  comet,  A.D.  1680.  2.  Comet  of 
1811,  from  Guillemin.  3.  Donati's  comet,  1858,  from  Proctor.  4.  Nebula  in 
ship  Argo,  from  Flammarion.  5.  Open  spiral  nebula  in  Virgo,  Plate  XV., 
Nichol's  "Architecture  of  the  Heavens,"  after  Lord  Rosse.  6.  Plate  XII.  of 
same  work,  nebula  in  Canes  Venatici :  a  partially  closed  spiral.  7.  Fron- 
tispiece of  same,  an  almost  completed  spiral,  in  the  Lion,  seen  obliquely : 
rupture  of  convolutions  preparatory  to  formation  of  planets.  8.  Ideal  solar 
system. 


THE 


SOURCE  AND  MODE 


OF 


SOLAR   ENERGY 


THROUGHOUT  THE  UNIVERSE. 


BY 

I.  W.  HEYSINGER,  M.A.,  M.D. 


I  ILLUSTRATED. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

/.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 
1895. 


COPYRIGHT,  1894, 

BY 
I.  W.  HEYSINGER. 


All  rights  reserved. 


ELECTROTYPEO  AND  PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA.  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 7 

CHAPTER    I. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY      ...     17 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA  OF  THE  SUN  ...     39 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY ' 70 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY 96 

_— - — — " 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE  DISTRIBUTION  AND  CONSERVATION  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY  139 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  THE  STARS 162 

CHAPTER     VII. 

TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND  COMETS 187 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  PHENOMENA  OF  COMETS 210 

CHAPTER    IX. 

INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA  .  .   225 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    X. 

PAGE 

THE  RESOLVABLE   NEBULA,   STAR-CLUSTERS  AND  GAL- 
AXIES      237 

CHAPTER   XL 

THE  GASEOUS  NEBULA 253 

CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS  :  ITS  BASIS  AND  ITS  DIFFICUL- 
TIES     268 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS  AND  GALAXIES  ....  282 

.  CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY 308 

CHAPTER    XV. 

CONCLUSION.     THE  HARMONY   OF  NATURE'S  LAWS  AND 
OPERATIONS 341 

REFERENCE  INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED 349 

CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER 353 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Figs.  1  to  8.  Types  from  nature,  illustrating  development  of  a  solar 
system  from  the  attenuated  matter  of  space  .  .  .  .Frontispiece. 

Fig.    9.     A  typical  sun-spot 57 

Fig.  10.     Structure  of  the  sun,  analytical  illustration  of 60 

Fig.  11.     Electrical  polarities  of  sun  and  planets 82 

Fig.  12.     Ideal  view  of  the  generation  and  transmission  of  planetary 

electricity 89 

Fig.  13.     The  aurora  borealis,  view  of 91 

Fig.  14.     Diffused  brush  discharge  of  an  electrical  machine  ....     91 
Fig.  15.     Planetary  generation  and  transmission  of  electrical  energy 

to  the  sun,  analytical  illustration  of 101 

Fig.  16.     Gradual  discharge  of  electricity  from  one  conductor  to 

another  in  a  partial  vacuum 103 

Fig.  17.     Sudden  electrical  discharge  through  the  atmosphere  .    .    .    103 
Fig.  18.     Position  of  planets  with  reference  to  the  generation  of  sun- 
spots;  maximum  and  minimum  of  electrical  action 108 

Fig.  19.     Analysis  of  a  typical  sun-spot 112 

Fig.  20.     Retardation  of  sun-spots  in  their  travel  across  the  solar 

face;  development  to  the  rear  and  recession  in  front 114 

Figs.  21  and  22.  Complex  lines  of  planetary  electrical  action  upon 
the  sun  produced  by  the  inclination  of  the  solar  axis  to  the  plane 

of  the  ecliptic 120 

Figs.  23  to  29.  Examples  of  electrical  repulsion  :  Fig.  1,  similarly 
electrified  pith-balls ;  Fig.  2,  the  electrical  windmill ;  Fig.  3,  re- 
pulsion of  a  flame ;  Fig.  4,  self-repulsion  around  a  conductor ;  Fig. 
5,  attraction  between  opposite  and  repulsion  between  similar 
electricities ;  Fig.  6,  mutual  repulsion  between  similar  +  electro- 
spheres  of  the  earth  and  the  moon ;  Fig.  7,  mutual  repulsion  be- 
tween the  similar  —  electrospheres  of  sun  and  comet 1 24 

Figs.  30  to  34.     Spectra  of  solar  light,  incandescent  sodium  and  cal- 
cium, and  the  absorption  and  bright-line  spectra  of  hydrogen  gas    155 
Figs.  35  to  37.     Reversal  and  neutralization  of  spectroscopic  lines  of 
hydrogen  in  the  light  of  a  variable  star  like  Betelgeuse     ....    160 
1*  5 


6  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Fig.  38.  A  double-sun  nebula  in  process  of  development  into  a  solar 
system 164 

Fig.  39.  Double  stars  with  complementary  colors,  interpretation  of 
the  phenomena  of 167 

Fig.  40.  A  solar  system  which  would  explain  the  regular  variability 
of  the  star  Mira 178 

Fig.  41.  Lineal  nebula  in  Sobieski's  Crown  which  has  been  affected 
by  currents  in  the  ocean  of  space 189 

Figs.  42  to  45.  Four  stages  in  the  phenomena  of  a  new  or  temporary 
star,  a  "  star  in  flames ;"  reversal  of  the  hydrogen  lines  in  its  spec- 
trum   196 

Figs,  46  and  47.  Illustration  of  repulsion  of  the  tail  of  a  comet  by 
the  similarly  electrified  solar  electrosphere  ;  comparison  with  simi- 
lar repulsion  in  a  vacuum-chamber  experiment 211 

Figs.  48  and  49.  The  electroscope,  and  mutual  electrical  repulsion 
in  a  bundle  of  dry  straws 225 

Fig.  50.  Experiment  with  a  candle  and  currents  of  air  from  between 
two  disks,  illustrating  the  radial  semi-rotation  of  a  comet's  tail 
during  perihelion 230 

Figs.  51  to  54.  Four  non-systemic  gaseous  nebulae  :  Fig.  1,  crab  neb- 
ula; Fig.  2,  dumb-bell  nebula;  Fig,  3,  lineal  nebula  in  Sobieski's 
Crown ;  Fig.  4,  Catherine-wheel  nebula.  The  latter  illustrates 
the  formation  of  a  planetary  nebula  with  a  hollow  center,  or  else 
dispersion  into  the  elements  of  space  again 263 

Fig.  55.  Great  spiral  nebula  in  Canes  Venatici  and  a  small  adjacent 
nebula  affected  thereby 273 

Figs.  56  to  59.  Four  gaseous  nebulae  in  process  of  development  into 
solar  systems:  Fig.  1,  divergent  spiral;  Fig.  2,  later  stage  of  a 
similar  spiral ;  Fig.  3,  subsequent  stage  of  rupture  of  the  nearly 
circular  convolutions  of  a  similar  nebula ;  Fig.  4,  the  same  stage  in 
the  development  of  a  solar  system  with  a  double  sun 279 

Fig.  60.  Nucleated  planetary  nebula,  showing  its  external  ring  split 
and  held  apart,  in  part  of  its  circumference,  by  electrical  repul- 
sion   .' 288 

Fig.  61.     Divergent  spiral  nebula  on  cover  of  book. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THIS  work  is  not  presented  to  the  reader  as  a 
treatise  on  astronomy,  although  the  different  phe- 
nomena pertaining  to  that  splendid  science  are  re- 
viewed with  some  detail,  and  the  established  facts 
bearing  upon  the  subjects  discussed  are  briefly  cited 
in  the  very  words  of  the  great  writers  upon  whose 
authority  they  rest.  A  considerable  experience  in 
chemistry,  electricity,  and  the  other  allied  physical 
sciences  long  since  convinced  the  author  of  this 
work  that  some  simple  and  uniform  principle  must 
control  the  production  of  the  physical  phenomena 
of  astronomy, — some  general  law  capable  of  being 
extended  in  its  application  to  the  widest,  as  well  as 
applied  to  the  narrowest,  limits  of  that  science. 
Knowing  the  absolute  certainty  of  a  magnetic  and 
electrical  connection  between  the  sun  and  the  earth, 
as  evidenced  by  the  reflected  energy  of  sun-spots, 
auroras,  etc.,  and  that  no  known  cause  except 
electricity  could  account  for  some,  at  least,  of 
the  cometic  phenomena,  it  seemed  that  any  com- 
prehensive law  must  at  all  events  include  this 
mode  of  energy  as  an  effective  cause,  and  that  if 
the  law  be  uniform  in  its  application,  it  must 
equally  exclude  all  others  which  may  be  either 
antagonistic  or  not  necessary.  A  careful  investi- 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

gation  was  therefore  made  of  those  less  generally 
known  principles  concerned  in  the  generation  and 
transformations  of  electrical  energy,  in  order  to 
determine  the  sufficiency  or  insufficiency  of  this 
agency  in  the  grander  operations  of  nature  (for,  of 
course,  mere  currents  of  electricity  could  play  no 
part  in  these  phenomena),  with  the  result  that 
every  line  of  research  led  irresistibly  to  the  con- 
clusions presented  in  this  work.  These  investiga- 
tions, specifically  directed,  at  first,  to  the  source 
and  mode  of  the  solar  energy  of  our  own  system 
alone,  were  found  to  be  equally  applicable  to  others, 
and  were  successively  extended  to  the  whole  si- 
dereal, nebular,  and  cometic  field,  and  finally  to 
space  itself,  for  all  the  phenomena  of  which  it 
seemed  to  furnish  an  adequate  and  harmonious  in- 
terpretation. The  fact,  when  once  demonstrated, 
that  the  true  source  of  solar  energy  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  sun  itself,  but  in  the  potential  energy 
of  space,  served  as  a  guiding  principle,  and,  by  its 
continuously  extended  application,  was  found  to 
cover  perfectly  the  source  and  mode  of  all  solar 
energy.  Every  step  of  the  investigation  has  been 
based  on  the  established  facts  of  science  and  the 
observations  of  eminent  astronomers  as  laid  down 
by  the  best  authorities ;  and  the  quotations  herein 
made  from  their  works  are  full  and  fair,  and  are 
properly  credited  in  every  case,  and  taken  from 
books  easily  accessible  to  the  general  reader.  It  is 
hoped  that  further  attention  may  be  directed  to 
this  field  of  research  by  far  more  capable  investi- 
gators than  the  author  of  this  work,  so  that  sys- 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

tematic  astronomy  may  no  longer  bear  the  re- 
proach that  it  is  largely  an  empirical  science,  but 
that  it  may  henceforth  be  based  upon  rational  and 
comprehensive  principles,  capable  of  universal  ex- 
tension and  of  general  scientific  application. 

The  authorities  cited  in  this  work  include  many 
illustrious  names :  Proctor,  Tyndall,  Helmholtz, 
Langley,  Huggins,  Newcomb,  Young,  Flammarion, 
Balfour  Stewart,  R.  Kalley  Miller,  Herschel,  Nichol, 
Lord  Rosse,  Urbanitsky,  Crookes,  Fraunhofer,  Ball, 
and  many  others,  all  of  whom  are  known  through- 
out the  world  as  among  the  master  minds  of  science. 
From  them  we  have  drawn  the  rich  stores  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  phenomena  with  which  this  work  deals, 
and  which  we  have  so  fully  and  freely  cited,  as  the 
basis  of  the  splendid  superstructure  which  astron- 
omy to-day  reveals.  No  one  will  venture  to  con- 
trovert the  statements  of  fact  made  by  these  emi- 
nent men,  and,  where  conflict  of  opinion  has  arisen 
among  them,  we  have  quoted  all  parties,  so  that 
the  reader  can  form  his  own  conclusion,  in  each 
case,  for  himself.  So  diverse,  apparently,  are  the 
phenomena  reviewed  that  they  present  the  aspect 
of  a  great  picture-gallery,  in  which  the  paintings 
totally  differ  from  each  other  in  subject,  in  treat- 
ment, and  in  origin,  their  only  common  qualities 
being  those  of  grandeur  and  fidelity  to  truth  and 
to  the  principles  of  art.  But  they  are  not  merely 
paintings,  they  are  the  moving  panorama  of  crea- 
tion, and,  diverse  as  they  may  appear,  they  will  be 
found  to  show  the  same  "handling,"  which  reveals 
the  same  universal  artist;  they  have,  in  truth,  a 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

common  mode  of  development  and  a  common  prin- 
ciple of  construction,  obscure  as  these  may  seem 
to  be. 

For  thousands  of  years  "  Natural  History,"  so 
called,  was  studied  and  taught ;  zoology  was  a  well- 
known  science  far  back  in  old  historic  times.  But 
it  was  left  for  modern  biological  research  to  turn 
from  these  fixed  and  fully-developed  forms  of  life, 
and  go  back  to  trace  their  primal  development 
through  what  is  now  the  science  of  embryology, 
and  thus  we  have  learned  that  nature  traverses  the 
same  paths  in  forming  a  man  as  in  producing  a 
frog  or  a  bird.  The  process  is  carried  further  along 
in  one  case  than  in  another,  but  the  lines  of  devel- 
opment are  almost  identical ;  and  the  tracing  out 
of  these  common  lines  and  their  subsequent  diver- 
gencies has  shed  a  flood  of  new  light  upon  these 
dark  and  hitherto  unknown  places,  so  that  we  are 
now  fairly  on  the  true  highway  of  physical  life  at 
last.  When  adult  forms  were  alone  compared, 
animal  with  animal,  no  common  ground  of  origin 
or  development  could  be  discerned ;  nature  was 
believed  to  work  by  "  special  creations,"  and  vast 
cataclysms  were  devised  to  utterly  destroy  the  or- 
ganic life  of  one  terrestrial  epoch  after  another, 
leaving  a  few  hardy  accidental  survivors,  or  "  types," 
perchance,  to  trace  back  their  lines  of  descent  be- 
yond such  periods  of  cyclical  destruction.  All  this 
is  now  changed,  and  these  views,  so  recently  held 
and  taught,  have  been  abandoned  forever,  and  con- 
tinuously operative  natural  processes  of  develop- 
ment, modified  by  environment  and  heredity,  have 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

taken  their  place,  and  biology  now  has  a  future  as 
well  as  a  past.  And  so  it  must  be  with  the  less 
complex,  but  far  more  extended,  creations  and 
transformations  in  the  vast  fields  of  astronomical 
science  with  which  this  book  is  concerned.  Hith- 
erto we  have  here,  too,  dealt  with  "  special  crea- 
tions" and  cataclysms ;  henceforth  we  must  follow 
the  uniform  and  eternal  laws  of  progressive  devel- 
opment. 

Among  the  multitude  of  hitherto  unsolved  prob- 
lems of  astronomy  we  may  enumerate  the  follow- 
ing: Why  sun-spots  travel  faster  around  the  sun 
when  near  his  equator  than  when  more  distant 
from  it.  The  physical  causes  of  sun-spots,  faculse, 
and  solar  prominences.  Why  the  number  and  size 
of  sun-spots  seem  to  affect  terrestrial  magnetism. 
The  rational  interpretation  of  the  eleven-year  and 
the  long  sun-spot  cycles.  The  origin  of  the  aurora 
borealis.  The  causes  of  the  periodicity  of  regu- 
larly variable  stars.  How  to  explain,  in  accordance 
with  the  nebular  hypothesis,  why  Algol  and  its 
companion,  which  are  not  greatly  different  in  mass 
and  volume,  and  both  obviously  gaseous,  should  so 
differ  in  character,  one  being  a  bright  sun  and  the 
other  a  dark  planet.  Whether  there  are  great, 
compact,  but  dark  bodies,  comparable  to  suns  and 
planets  in  magnitude,  and  unconnected  with  any 
solar  system,  floating  about  in  space.  Why  double 
and  multiple  stars  are  so  frequently  of  contrasted 
or  complementary  colors.  Why  regularly  variable 
stars  are  longer  in  decline  than  in  growth  of  bril- 
liancy, since  such  decline  is  no  criterion  of  loss  of 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

heat,  but  rather  the  reverse.  Why  the  sun  and 
fixed  stars  have  atmospheres  largely  composed  of 
free  hydrogen,  and  the  planets  have  atmospheres 
of  free  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  Why  a  small  and 
sometimes  even  scarcely  visible  star  occasionally  is 
seen  to  suddenly  blaze  up,  in  a  few  hours,  to  hun- 
dreds of  times  its  normal  brilliancy,  and  then  far 
more  gradually  fade,  through  months  and  years, 
back  to  its  former  state,  in  which  thenceforth  it 
continues  to  maintain  its  original  lustre.  Why 
comets,  when  they  have  tails,  always  project  these 
appendages  radially  from  the  direction  of  the  sun. 
How  to  account  for  the  presence  of  cyanogen,  and 
how  for  the  absence  of  oxygen  and  the  constant 
presence  of  hydrocarbon  vapors  around  the  nuclei 
of  comets.  Why  some  comets  split  up  into  sepa- 
rate comets  and  others  sometimes  show  multiple 
tails.  Why  comets,  when  they  pass  around  and 
behind  the  sun,  in  some  cases  reappear  shorn  of 
their  splendor  and  in  other  cases  with  their  splen- 
dor greatly  enhanced.  Whence  comets  are  derived, 
where  is  their  permanent  abiding-place,  and  how 
did  they  originally  reach  those  distant  regions 
which  they  .occupy  before  entering  our  system,  if 
merely  the  debris  left  behind  from  contraction  of 
the  mass  of  plasma  out  of  which  our  solar  system 
is  supposed  to  have  been  formed.  Why  so  many 
of  the  irresolvable  nebulae  present  the  appearance 
of  divergent  spirals  of  many  different  forms.  How 
to  account  for  the  annular  nebulae  with  hollow  cen- 
ters and  for  those  partially-completed  planetary 
nebulae,  so  called,  which  afterwards  appear  to  ret- 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

rograde  into  diffused  gaseous  nebulae  again  or 
gradually  disappear.  What  is  the  ultimate  consti- 
tution of  interstellar  space  ?  Have  the  fixed  stars 
planetary  systems  like  our  own,  or  not  ?  Must  they 
have  such,  or  merely  may  they  have  ?  What  prin- 
ciple of  conservation  of  energy  is  it  possible  to 
apply  to  the  vast  quantities  of  light  and  heat  which 
constantly  disappear  in  the  interstellar  realms  of 
space  ?  How  to  account  for  this  enormous  emission 
of  solar  energy  during  the  long  period  of  time 
requisite  for  the  development  of  the  earth  during 
its  past  geological  ages.  How  to  explain  why  the 
moon  always  presents  the  same  face  to  the  earth. 
Why,  if  the  law  of  gravity  prevails  there,  there  are 
no  visible  traces  of  atmosphere  or  moisture  in  the 
moon.  What  is  the  basic  principle  on  which  de- 
pends the  ratio  of  mean  planetary  distances,  0,  3, 
6,  12,  24,  etc.,  always  plus  4-  ?  What  is  the  origin 
of  the  planetary  satellites  and  the  cause  of  their 
irregular  distribution,  and  what  the  origin  of  Sat- 
urn's rings  ?  How  was  the  belt  of  asteroids  formed 
between  Mars  and  Jupiter?  Why  is  the  orbit  of 
Neptune  relatively  compressed  against  that  of 
Uranus  ?  Why  is  the  mass  of  Neptune  out  of  its 
proper  proportion  compared  with  those  of  Jupiter, 
Saturn,  Uranus,  and  Neptune  in  a  diminishing 
series?  What  is  the  rational  interpretation  and 
what  the  origin  of  the  sun's  corona  and  the  cause 
of  the  coronal  streamers  ? 

There  are  many  other  problems  equally  difficult 
which  are  encountered  in  the  study  of  this  noble 
science,  but  the  above  are  surely  sufficiently  strik- 

2 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

ing.  Any  complete  interpretation  of  these  various 
phenomena,  even  singly,  would  seem  to  be  an  im- 
portant step  in  advance ;  then  how  much  more  so 
if  the  explanation  of  one  and  all  of  these  is  to  be 
found  in  a  single,  all-embracing  cause,  a  few  sim- 
ple and  uniformly  operative  principles,  as  unques- 
tionably operative  here  as  in  the  other  fields  of 
science  to  which  they  pertain,  and  which,  once 
thoroughly  comprehended  and  rigidly  applied,  will 
be  found  to  elucidate  all  the  multifarious  phenom- 
ena of  sidereal  space  so  clearly  and  precisely  that 
any  intelligent  observer  and  reasoner  can  determine 
each  question  finally  for  himself,  and  solve  not  only 
these,  but  all  the  other  astronomical  problems  and 
paradoxes  which  have  from  time  to  time  arisen  ? 
It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  this  sublime  science 
and  these  illimitable  realms  are  to  be  laid  off  with 
the  metes  and  bounds  of  a  farmer's  meadow,  for 
all  the  lines  of  the  different  sciences  are  linked  to- 
gether at  a  thousand  points,  but  that  the  operative 
principles  which  nature  constantly  employs  once 
firmly  grasped,  the  intricacy  of  each  series  of 
phenomena  encountered  will  become  gradually  les- 
sened, link  by  link,  as  observations  and  deductions 
are  more  closely  and  rationally  made  along  these 
well-established  lines  of  research,  instead  of  here 
and  there,  empirically,  and  at  hap-hazard,  as  has 
been  the  only  method  hitherto  possible  to  pursue. 
When  the  relatively  few  fixed  principles  which 
control  the  operations  of  nature  in  the  field  of  as- 
tronomy are  thoroughly  comprehended,  for  on  this 
vast  panorama  she  lays  her  colors  with  a  heavy 


INTROD  UCTION.  1 5 

brush,  we  can  study  her  phenomena  and  interpret 
her  processes  even  more  readily  than  the  kindred 
sciences  have  enabled  us  to  do  in  the  adjacent  fields 
of  biology,  wherein  the -splendid  achievements  of 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  past  have  not  only 
aroused  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  the  world, 
but  already  point  the  way  to  still  grander  triumphs 
yet  to  come. 


€=.SE 
OF  THE 
:VERSITY 


THE  SOURCE  AND  MODE 


OF 


SOLAR    ENERGY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

STATEMENT   OF   THE   PROBLEM    OF   SOLAR   ENERGY. 

IN  endeavoring  to  present  a  new  and  rational  in- 
terpretation of  the  source  and  mode  of  solar  energy, 
based  upon  the  established  principles  of  recent 
science,  it  becomes  necessary  to  briefly  cite  the 
facts  bearing  upon  the  problem  to  be  solved  and 
the  authorities  for  their  support,  as  well  as  to  de- 
scribe concisely  the  different  hypotheses  at  present 
in  vogue,  and  to  point  out  the  well-established  in- 
sufficiency of  these  theories,  one  and  all,  to  account 
for  or  explain  the  difficulties  encountered,  and 
which  so  far  have  remained  as  an  unsolved  enigma. 
And  this  problem  of  solar  energy  is  the  grandest 
and  most  important  question  of  all  physics,  for 
upon  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  depend  all 
physical  life  and  its  consequences,  animal  and  vege- 
table, past,  present,  and  future.  If  within  finite 
time,  and  relatively,  compared  with  the  enormous 
vistas  of  the  past,  a  very  brief  time,  this  source  of 
b  2*  17 


18      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

energy  is  to  cease,  and  our  whole  system  be  in- 
volved in  darkness  and  death,  such  darkness  and 
death  must  be  eternal ;  for  the  dead  sun  in  his  final 
stage  of  condensation  will  be  as  fixed  and  unchange- 
able as  the  operation  of  eternal  laws  can  make  it, 
and  henceforth  there  can  be  no  revival  or  reversals, 
no  turning  back  of  the  hand  upon  the  dial,  while 
the  laws  of  nature  continue ;  and  outside  the  uni- 
form operation  of  the  laws  of  nature  there  is  no 
source,  or  mode,  or  continuance  of  solar  energy 
conceivable.  It  is  true  that  when  our  system  shall 
have  run  down  to  its  culmination  in  death,  other 
present  systems  may  continue  for  a  time  to  exist  and 
new- ones  spring  into  being ;  but  these,  too,  must  in- 
evitably follow  the  same  course,  and  likewise  end  in 
eternal  darkness,  until  finally  the  great  experiment 
of  creation  shall  have  ended  in  eternal  failure. 
The  changes  we  see  in  progress  around  us,  how- 
ever, are  not  of  this  nature.  The  individual  dies, 
but  the  forces  which  gave  life  and  strength  to  the 
race  persist,  and  others  will  take  his  place,  and  the 
same  forces  will  continue  to  operate  with  constant 
renewals,  since  we  draw  our  light  and  heat  and  life 
from  without ;  but  in  the  death  of  suns  and  their 
attendant  planets  there  is  no  analogous  process,  for 
such  suns  are  constantly  expending  their  enormous 
energies  in  the  support  of  life  external  to  them- 
selves, and  only  the  smallest  part  of  this  energy, 
even,rcan  ever  be  utilized  by  themselves  or  by  other 
suns  or  planets  under  any  mode  of  interpretation 
now  in  vogue,  the  boundless  realms  of  so-called 
inert  and  empty  space  receiving  the  same  propor- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  19 

tionate  quota  of  light  and  heat  as  the  almost  mi- 
croscopic points  in  the  sky  which  constitute  the 
suns  and  systems  we  see,  and  practically  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  this  enormous  energy  is  an  absolute 
dead  waste ;  so  that  whether  receiving  new  supplies 
from  a  constant  rain  of  adjacent  meteor  streams, 
or  from  the  gradual  contraction  of  the  solar  volume, 
the  vast  realms  of  space  are  the  useless  recipients 
of  what  can  never  return  to  the  sun  again,  and,  of 
course,  in  such  case  the  inevitable  end  can  be  pre- 
dicted; for  contraction  of  volume,  with  a  given 
mass,  must  have  an  effective  limit,  and  meteoric 
aggregation  must  also  find  an  effective  limit,  if  the 
planets  are  not  to  be  thrown  out  of  place  as  they 
continue  to  revolve  around  the  sun. 

All  accepted  theories  begin  with  a  primordial 
impulse,  the  energies  of  which  are  of  necessity 
constantly  frittered  away  and  wasted,  until  finally 
all  light  and  heat  and  life  must  cease  to  exist,  and 
that  at  a  stage  in  which  no  further  impulse  can 
ever  be  given,  since  the  whole  universe  will  have 
passed  through  every  possible  stage  of  degradation 
down  to  the  final  one  of  universal  and  eternal 
death.  And  yet  this  is  the  best  that  science  has  to 
suggest ;  the  only  comfort  offered  us  is  that  it  will 
not  happen  in  our  time,  and  so,  "  after  us  the 
deluge."  The  nebular  hypothesis,  so  called,  of 
Laplace,  has  required  much  modification,  in  the 
light  of  more  recent  science,  but  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  this  theory  are  still  generally  accepted,  for 
they  fairly  well  account  for  the  primal  connection 
of  the  sun  and  planets,  and  the  position  of  the  cen- 


20      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

tral  sun  within,  with  the  orbital  and  rotational 
planetary  movements,  as  no  other  theory  has  yet 
done.  By  this  theory  the  limits  of  our  solar  sys- 
tem were  once  occupied  by  an  attenuated  gaseous 
nebula  containing  within  itself  all  the  matter 
which  now  forms  our  solar  system.  This  great 
nebular  mass,  primordially  assumed,  was  given  by 
gravity  a  slow  but  gradually  increasing  rotation 
upon  its  center ;  the  force  of  gravity  acted  more 
strongly  upon  this  rotating  body  as  it  contracted, 
so  that  rings  of  nebulous  matter  were  successively 
thrown  off,  which  coalesced  into  single  masses  and 
these  finally  into  planets.  These  planetary  globes 
themselves,  as  they  coalesced  and  contracted,  left 
behind  or  threw  off  rings  of  their  outer  matter, 
which,  in  turn,  became  moons,  and  finally  our  solar 
system  with  its  central  sun  was  evolved  as  we  now 
see  it ;  development  continued,  the  planets  cooled 
and  condensed,  life  appeared  when  the  conditions 
became  suitable,  and  the  original  progressive  con- 
densation of  the  central  mass — the  sun — still  con- 
tinuing, the  evolution  of  light  and  heat  continues, 
and  will  continue  in  a  correlative  degree.  As  our 
moon  has  passed,  apparently,  beyond  the  stage 
of  life,  and  is  cold,  airless,  waterless,  and  dead,  so 
will  the  earth  pass  ;  and  the  larger  planets,  such  as 
Jupiter  and  Saturn,  which  have  not  yet  reached 
the  life  stage  of  condensation,  are  still  hot,  but 
they,  too,  will  pass  through  the  present  stage  of 
the  earth,  then  through  that  in  which  the  moon 
now  is;  and  the  central  sun,  still  glowing,  but 
more  and  more  dimly,  will  itself  pass  through  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY,  21 

stages  in  which  Jupiter  and  Saturn  now  are,  then 
through  that  of  our  present  earth,  and  finally  into 
that  of  the  moon,  long  before  which  time  the  emis- 
sion of  all  light  and  heat  will  have  ceased  from 
the  sun  to  its  encircling  planets,  and  finally  the 
sun  itself  will  sink  into  eternal  frigidity,  and  all 
its  store  of  light  and  heat  will  have  been  dissipated 
into  boundless  space,  and  the  possibility  of  any- 
thing resembling  what  we  know  as  life  will  have 
been  forever  extinguished.  In  considering  the 
question  of  the  sun's  energy,  the  author  of  the  arti- 
cle "  Sun,"  in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  says,  "  How 
to  account  for  the  supply  of  the  prodigious  amount 
of  heat  constantly  radiated  from  the  solar  surface 
has  offered  a  boundless  field  of  hypothesis.  One 
conjecture  is  that  the  sun  is  now  giving  off"  the 
heat  imparted  to  it  at  its  creation,  and  that  it  is 
gradually  cooling  down  (1).  Another  ascribed  it 
to  combustion  (2),  and  a  third  to  currents  of  elec- 
tricity (3).  Newton  and  Buffon  conjectured  that 
comets  might  be  the  aliment  of  the  sun  (4) ;  and 
of  late  years  a  somewhat  similar  theory  (first 
broached  by  Mr.  Waterston  in  1853)  has  been  in 
vogue,^-viz.,  that  a  stream  of  meteoric  matter  con- 
stantly pouring  into  the  sun  from  the  regions  of 
space  supplies  its  heat,  by  the  conversion  into  it  of 
the  arrested  motion  (5).  As  the  sun  may,  indeed, 
derive  a  small  amount  of  heat  from  this  cause,  it 
deserves  more  attention  than  previous  conjectures. 
But  conjecture  and  hypothesis  may  be  said  to  have 
given  place  to  views  which  claim  a  higher  title,  as 
it  is  now  becoming  generally  recognized,  in  accord- 


22      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ance  with  modern  physical  theories  of  heat,  that  in 
the  gravitation  of  the  sun's  mass  toward  its  center, 
and  in  its  consequent  condensation,  sufficient  heat 
must  he  evolved  to  supply  the  present  radiation, 
enormous  as  this  undoubtedly  is.  It  appears  to  be 
susceptible  of  full  demonstration  that  a  contraction 
of  the  sun's  volume  of  a  given  definite  amount, 
which  is  yet  so  slight  as  to  be  invisible  to  the  most 
powerful  telescope,  is  competent  to  furnish  a  heat- 
supply  equal  to  all  that  can  have  been  emitted  dur- 
ing historical  periods.  According  to  this  theory, 
then  (which  is  largely  due  to  the  development  by 
Helmholtz  of  Mayer's  great  generalization),  the 
sun's  mass  remains  unaltered,  and  its  temperature 
nearly  constant,  while  its  size  is  slowly  diminishing 
as  it  contracts ;  so  slowly,  however,  that  the  supply 
may  be  reckoned  on  through  periods  almost  infi- 
nite as  measured  by  the  known  past  of  our  race, 
and  which  are  in  any  case  to  be  counted  by  millions 
of  years  (6)."  To  these  must  be  added  the  hypothe- 
sis of  Dr.  Siemens,  fully  described  in  Professor 
Proctor's  (i  Mysteries  of  Time  and  Space."  This 
ingenious  theory,  in  brief,  is  that  the  rotation  of 
the  sun  on  its  axis  causes  a  suction  in  the  manner 
of  a  fan,  at  the  poles,  and  a  tangential  projection, 
at  the  equator,  of  a  disk- like  stream  of  gaseous 
matter  into  space.  The  light  and  heat  of  the  sun, 
dispersed  through  space,  slowly  but  continuously 
act  upon  the  compound  gases  with  which  space  is 
universally  pervaded  to  disassociate  them  into  their 
elements.  The  disassociated  gases  thus  sucked  in 
at  the  solar  poles  at  an  extremely  low  temperature 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  23 

are  brought  into  a  state  of  combustion  by  friction 
and  condensation,  thus  generating  new  supplies  of 
light  and  heat,  and  the  gases  thus  reunited  by  com- 
bustion are  again  projected  into  space,  to  be  again 
slowly  disassociated  by  the  operation  of  the  sun's 
light  and  heat.  The  result  of  this  combustion  is 
to  form  aqueous  vapor  and  carbonic  acid  and  car- 
bonic oxide,  and  these  gases,  when  disassociated 
in  space,  are  resolved  into  carbon,  oxygen,  and 
hydrogen,  which  again  and  again  are  thus  recom- 
bined  and  again  and  again  decomposed  as  they 
pass  over  the  sun's  surface  (7). 

The  seven  hypotheses  above  described  are  the 
only  ones  now  in  vogue,  and  a  brief  analysis  will 
show  that  no  single  one  of  them,  nor  all  combined, 
will  give  sufficient  results  to  account  for  the  essen- 
tial difficulties  or  known  conditions  of  the  problem. 
The  first  and  second  hypotheses  are  answered  by 
the  fact  set  forth  by  Helmholtz  (Popular  Scientific 
Lectures,  article  "  On  the  Origin  of  the  Planetary 
System"),  that,  if  the  mass  of  the  sun  were  com- 
posed of  the  two  elements  capable  by  combination 
of  producing  the  greatest  possible  light  and  heat, — 
to  wit,  hydrogen  and  oxygen  in  the  proportions  in 
which  they  unite  to  form  water, — "  calculation 
shows  that  under  the  above  supposition  the  heat 
resulting  from  their  combustion  would  be  sufficient 
to  keep  up  the  radiation  of  heat  from  the  sun  three 
thousand  and  twenty- one  years.  That,  it  is  true, 
is  a  long  time,  but  even  profane  history  teaches 
that  the  sun  has  lighted  and  warmed  us  for  three 
thousand  years,  and  geology  puts  it  beyond  doubt 


24      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

that  this  period  must  be  extended  to  millions  of 
years." 

The  third  hypothesis  relates  to  currents  of  elec- 
tricity. We  have  no  knowledge  of  currents  of 
electricity  which  could  produce,  however  multi- 
plied or  intensified,  such  light  and  heat  as  are  con- 
stantly poured  forth  from  the  sun  into  all  space. 
That  electricity  is  the  intermediate  cause  of  our 
sun's  energy,  and  of  all  solar  energy,  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  this  work  to  demonstrate,  but  not  electric 
currents,  which  find  their  attractiveness  to  theorists 
in  the  vague  suggestion  of  which  Professor  Proc- 
tor speaks,  referring  to  comets,  in  his  article  on 
"  Cometic  Mysteries,"  "  that  perhaps  this  is  an 
electrical  phenomenon ;  perhaps  that  other  feature  is 
electrical,  too;  perhaps  all  or  most  of  the  phenomena 
of  comets  depend  on  electricity."  But  he  adds, 
"  It  is  so  easy  to  make  such  suggestions,  so  difficult 
to  obtain  evidence  in  their  favor  having  the  slight- 
est scientific  value.  Still,  I  hold  the  electrical  idea 
to  be  well  worth  careful  study.  Whatever  credit 
may  hereafter  be  given  to  any  electrical  theory  of 
comets  will  be  solely  and  entirely  due  to  those 
who  may  help  to  establish  it  upon  a  basis  of  sound 
evidence, — none  whatever  to  the  mere  suggestion, 
which  has  been  made  time  and  again  since  it  was 
first  advanced  by  Fontanelle."  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  present  work,  in  demonstrating  the  true  source 
and  mode  of  solar  energy,  in  itself  presents  a  full 
and  sufficient  explanation  of  all  the  cometic  mys- 
teries referred  to,  as  well  as  all  those  pertaining  to 
other  solar  systems  in  space,  and  the  multifarious 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  25 

phenomena  which  they  present.  Indeed,  the  phil- 
osophic mind  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  suffi- 
ciency of  any  hypothesis  which  will  not  unlock  the 
mysteries  and  clearly  explain  the  phenomena  of 
other  systems, — of  comets,  variable  and  temporary, 
stars,  double  stars,  and  all  the  complicated  celestial 
economy  which  to  the  eye  of  the  mere  observer 
presents  a  bewildering  scene  of  the  operation  of 
independent  and  inscrutable  forces.  The  fifth  hy- 
pothesis cited,  that  of  meteoric  impact,  doubtless 
pla}7s  a  part,  as  we  know  from  the  generation  of 
light  and  heat  by  the  constant  passage  of  similar 
bodies  through  our  own  atmosphere.  And  we 
know,  of  course,  that  the  sun,  by  its  vastly-increased 
attraction,  must  be  subjected  to  the  constant  impact 
of  such  meteoric  bodies  in  enormous  numbers. 
But  the  fatal  defect  in  the  theory  is  that  such  im- 
pacts, to  produce  the  radiant  energy  of  the  sun, 
must  constantly  add  to  its  mass  in  like  proportion, 
and  as  the  motions  and  distances  of  the  planets  in 
their  orbits  are  regulated  and  preserved  by  virtue 
of  the  substantially  constant  mass  of  the  sun,  any 
progressive  and  considerable  increase  in  its  mass 
must  constantly  bring  the  planets  nearer  and  nearer, 
and  thus  increase  their  orbital  velocity.  Helmholtz 
quotes  from  Sir  William  Thomson's  investigation, 
that,  "  assuming  it  to  hold,  the  mass  of  the  sun 
should  increase  so  rapidly  that  the  consequences 
would  have  shown  themselves  in  the  accelerated 
motion  of  the  planets.  The  entire  loss  of  heat 
from  the  sun  cannot,  at  all  events,  be  produced  in 
this  way ;  at  the  most  a  portion,  which,  however, 
B  3 


26       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

may  not  be  inconsiderable."  R.  Kalley  Miller,  in 
"  The  Romance  of  Astronomy,"  says,  "  But  more 
recent  observations  have  led  Sir  William  Thomson 
to  a  modification  of  his  theory.  He  has  calculated 
that  if  the  meteoric  shower  were  sufficiently  heavy 
to  make  up  for  the  sun's  whole  expenditure  of  heat, 
the  matter  of  the  corona  must  be  so  dense  as  seri- 
ously to  perturb  the  orbits  of  certain  comets  which 
pass  very  close  to  his  surface, — a  result  which  is 
found  not  to  be  the  case.  But  the  meteoric  theory 
is  only  thrown  back  a  step.  If  the  sun's  mass 
were  originally  formed,  as  is  not  at  all  improbable, 
by  the  agglomeration  of  these  particles,  Sir  William 
Thomson  has  calculated  that  the  heat  generated  by 
their  thus  falling  together  would  be  sufficient  to 
account  for  a  supply  of  twenty  million  years  of 
solar  heat  at  the  present  rate  of  emission.  And 
thus,  though  the  meteors  are  not  sufficient  to  main- 
tain the  energy  of  our  system  unimpaired,  they 
may  yet  have  been  the  original  storehouse  from 
which  all  that  energy  was  derived.  .  .  .  But  if  the 
economy  of  our  system  be  spared  long  enough,  the 
day  must  come  when  the  sun  with  age  has  become 
wan ;  when  the  matter  of  the  corona  has  all  been 
drawn  in  and  used  up  without  avail;  when  the 
lavish  luxuriance  with  which  he  has  showered 
abroad  his  light  and  heat  has  finally  exhausted  all 
his  stores.  He  has  still  power,  aided  by  the  resist- 
ing medium,  to  drag  his  satellites  one  by  one  down 
upon  his  surface ;  and  the  shock  of  each  successive 
impact  will,  for  a  brief  period,  give  him  a  fresh 
tenure  of  life.  When  the  earth  crashes  into  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  27 

sun  it  will  supply  him  with  a  store  of  heat  for 
nearly  a  century,  while  Jupiter's  large  mass  will 
extend  the  period  by  nearly  thirty  thousand  years. 
But  when  the  last  of  the  planets  is  swallowed  up, 
the  sun's  energies  will  rapidly  die  out  and  a  deep 
and  deathly  gloom  gather  about  nature's  grave. 
Looking  into  the  ages  of  a  future  eternity,  we  can 
see  nothing  but  a  cold  and  burnt-out  mass  remain- 
ing of  that  glorious  orb  which  went  forth  in  the 
morning  of  time,  joyful  as  a  bridegroom  from  his 
chamber,  and  rejoicing  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a 
race." 

The  sixth  hypothesis  is  that  to  which  most  cre- 
dence is  now  given.  It  is  that  of  evolution  of  en- 
ergy by  condensation  of  volume.  Professor  Proctor 
("The  Sun  as  a  Perpetual  Machine")  says,  "In 
company  with  this  great  mystery  of  seeming  waste 
comes  the  yet  more  difficult  problem,  how  to  ex- 
plain the  apparent  continuance  of  solar  light  and 
heat  during  millions  of  years.  We  know  from  the 
results  of  geological  research  that  the  earth  has 
been  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  solar  rays  with 
their  present  activity  during  at  least  a  hundred  mil- 
lion years.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  see  how,  on  any 
hypothesis  of  the  generation  of  solar  heat,  or  by 
combining  together  all  possible  modes  of  heat  gen- 
eration, a  supply  for  more  than  twenty  millions  of 
years  in  the  past  and  a  possible  supply  for  as  long 
a  period  in  the  future  can  be  accounted  for."  Of 
these  vast  periods  of  terrestrial  existence  in  the 
past  we  quote  the  following  from  a  recent  publica- 
tion: 


28      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

"  Professor  C.  D.  Wolcott  expresses  the  opinion 
that  geologic  time  is  not  to  be  measured  by  hun- 
dreds of  years,  but  simply  by  tens  of  millions.  This 
is  widely  different  from  the  conclusion  arrived  at 
by  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  who,  basing  his  estimate  on 
modifications  of  certain  specimens  of  marine  life, 
assigned  240,000,000  years  as  the  required  geo- 
logical period;  Darwin  claimed  200,000,000  years; 
Crowell,  about  72,000,000 ;  Geike,  from  73,000,000 
upward ;  McGee,  Upham,  and  other  recent  author- 
ities claim  from  100,000,000  up  to  680,000,000." 

Helmholtz  ("  On  the  Origin  of  the  Planetary  Sys- 
tem") says,  "  It  is  probable  rather  that  a  great  part 
of  this  heat,  which  was  produced  by  condensation, 
began  to  radiate  into  space  before  this  condensa- 
tion was  complete.  But  the  heat  which  the  sun 
could  have  previously  developed  by  its  condensa- 
tion would  have  been  sufficient  to  cover  its  pres- 
ent expenditure  for  not  less  than  22,000,000  of 
years  of  the  past.  .  .  .  We  may  therefore  assume 
with  great  probability  that  the  sun  will  still  con- 
tinue in  its  condensation,  even  if  it  only  attained 
the  density  of  the  earth,  though  it  will  probably 
become  far  denser  in  its  interior,  owing  to  its  far 
greater  pressure;  this  would  develop  fresh  quan- 
tities of  heat,  which  would  be  sufficient  to  main- 
tain for  an  additional  17,000,000  of  years  the  same 
intensity  of  sunshine  as  that  which  is  now  the 
source  of  all  terrestrial  life."  Of  this  process  of 
condensation  Professor  Ball,  in  his  recent  work, 
"In  the  High  Heavens,"  says,  "It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  welfare  of  the  human  race  is  neces- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  29 

sarily  connected  with  the  continuance  of  the  sun's 
beneficent  action.  We  have  indeed  shown  that  the 
few  other  direct  or  indirect  sources  of  heat  which 
might  conceivably  be  relied  upon  are  in  the  very 
nature  of  things  devoid  of  necessary  permanence.  It 
becomes,  therefore,  of  the  utmost  interest  to  inquire 
whether  the  sun's  heat  can  be  calculated  on  indef- 
initely. Here  is  indeed  a  subject  which  is  literally 
of  the  most  vital  importance,  so  far  as  organic  life 
is  concerned.  If  the  sun  shall  ever  cease  to  shine, 
then  it  must  be  certain  that  there  is  a  term  beyond 
which  human  existence,  or  indeed  organic  exist- 
ence of  any  type  whatever,  cannot  any  longer  en- 
dure on  the  earth.  We  may  say  once  for  all  that 
the  sun  contains  just  a  certain  number  of  units  of 
heat,  actual  or  potential,  and  that  he  is  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  shedding  that  heat  around  with  the 
most  appalling  extravagance."  Quoting  from  Pro- 
fessor Langley,  he  says,  "  We  feel  certain  that  the 
incessant  radiation  from  the  sun  must  be  producing 
a  profound  effect  on  its  stores  of  energy.  The  only 
way  of  reconciling  this  with  the  total  absence  of 
evidence  of  the  expected  changes  is  to  be  found  in 
the  supposition  that  such  is  the  mighty  mass  of  the 
sun,  such  the  prodigious  supply  of  heat  or  what  is 
the  equivalent  of  heat  which  it  contains,  that  the 
grand  transformation  through  which  it  is  passing 
proceeds  at  a  rate  so  slow  that,  during  the  ages 
accessible  to  our  observations,  the  results  achieved 
have  been  imperceptible.  .  .  .  We  cannot,  how- 
ever, attribute  to  the  sun  any  miraculous  power  of 
generating  heat.  That  great  body  cannot  disobey 

3* 


30      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

those  laws  which  we  have  learned  from  experi- 
ments in  our  laboratories.  Of  course  no  one  now 
doubts  that  the  great  law  of  the  conservation  of 
energy  holds  good.  We  do  not  in  the  least  believe 
that  because  the  sun's  heat  is  radiated  away  in  such 
profusion  it  is  therefore  entirely  lost.  It  trav- 
els off,  no  doubt,  to  the  depths  of  space,  and  as  to 
what  may  become  of  it  there  we  have  no  information. 
Everything  we  know  points  to  the  law  that  energy 
is  as  indestructible  as  matter  itself.  The  heat  scat- 
tered from  the  sun  exists  at  least  as  ethereal  vibra- 
tion, if  in  no  other  form.  But  it  is  most  assuredly 
true  that  this  energy,  so  copiously  dispensed,  is  lost 
to  our  solar  system.  There  is  no  form  in  which  it 
is  returned,  or  in  which  it  can  be  returned.  The 
energy  of  the  system  is  as  surely  declining  as  the 
store  of  energy  of  the  clock  declines  according  as 
the  weight  runs  down.  In  the  clock,  however,  the 
energy  is  restored  by  winding  up  the  weight,  but 
there  is  no  analogous  process  known  in  our  sys- 
tem." The  purpose  of  the  present  work,  however, 
is  to  clearly  demonstrate  that  just  such  a  process  is 
actually  being  carried  on,  and  has  been  so  carried 
on  from  the  beginning,  and  will  be  forever.  This 
writer  continues  reviewing  the  suppositions  for- 
merly entertained,  that  the  sun  was  a  heated  body 
gradually  cooling  down,  or  that  it  was  undergoing 
absolute  combustion,  and  shows  that  they  were 
utterly  insufficient.  He  then  refers  to  the  theory 
of  meteoric  supply,  of  which  he  says,  "  It  can,  how- 
ever, be  shown  that  there  are  not  enough  meteors 
in  existence  to  supply  a  sufficient  quantity  of  heat 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  31 

to  the  sun  to  compensate  the  loss  by  radiation.  The 
indraught  of  meteoric  matter  may,  indeed,  certainly 
tend  in  some  small  degree  to  retard  the  ultimate 
cooling  of  the  great  luminary,  but  its  effect  is  so 
small  that  we  can  quite  afford  to  overlook  it  from 
the  point  of  view  that  we  are  taking  in  these  pages. 
It  is  to  Helmholtz  we  are  indebted  for  the  true  solu- 
tion of  the  long- vexed  problem.  He  has  demon- 
strated in  the  clearest  manner  where  the  source  of 
the  sun's  heat  lies.  ...  A  gaseous  globe  like  the 
sun,  when  it  parts  with  its  heat,  observes  laws  of 
a  very  different  type  from  those  which  a  cooling 
solid  follows.  As  the  heat  disappears  by  radiation 
the  body  contracts;  the  gaseous  object,  however, 
decreases  in  general  much  more  than  a  solid  body 
would  do  for  the  same  loss  of  heat.  .  .  .  The  globe 
of  gas  unquestionably  radiates  heat  and  loses  it, 
and  the  globe,  in  consequence  of  that  loss,  shrinks 
to  a  smaller  size.  ...  In  the  facts  just  mentioned 
we  have  an  explanation  of  the  sustained  heat  of  the 
sun.  Of  course  we  cannot  assume  that  in  our  cal- 
culations the  sun  is  to  be  treated  as  if  it  were  gase- 
ous throughout  its  entire  mass,  but  it  approximates 
so  largely  to  the  gaseous  state  in  the  greater  part 
of  its  bulk  that  we  can  feel  no  hesitation  in  adopts  \ 
ing  the  belief  that  the  true  cause  has  been  found." 
Regarding  the  constitution  of  the  sun,  it  may  be 
stated,  however,  that  we  only  see  its  photosphere, 
which  is  the  visible  sun,  and  the  whole  volume  has 
a  density  about  that  of  water ;  but  no  man  has  ever 
seen  the  body  of  the  sun  itself.  In  this  respect  it 
is  like  the  planet  Jupiter :  we  only  know  that  its 


32      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

density  cannot  be  less  than  one-fourth  the  density 
of  the  earth's  solid  globe.  If  the  photosphere  ex- 
tend to  a  depth  of  one  thousand,  ten  thousand,  or  a 
hundred  thousand  miles,  the  density  of  the  sun's 
body  or  core  will  be  correspondingly  increased. 
Even  computing  the  whole  visible  volume,  the 
density  is  far  greater  than  that  of  any  gas  we  know, 
even  with  the  solar  pressure  of  gravity ;  with  the 
sun's  metallic  vapors,  if  the  whole  core  were  already 
vaporized,  we  would  not,  to  say  the  least,  be  likely 
to  observe  the  sun-spots  and  other  solar  phenomena 
as  we  find  them  actually  to  occur ;  this,  however, 
will  be  more  fully  considered  later  on.  The  author 
continues,  "  But  there  is  a  boundary  to  the  pros- 
pect of  the  continuance  of  the  sun's  radiation.  Of 
course,  as  the  loss  of  heat  goes  on  the  gaseous 
parts  will  turn  into  liquids,  and  as  the  process  is 
still  further  protracted  the  liquids  will  transform 
into  solids,  f  Thus,  we  look  forward  to  a  time  when 
the  radiation  of  the  sun  can  be  no  longer  carried 
on  in  conformity  with  the  laws  which  dictate  the 
loss  of  heat  from  a  gaseous  body.  When  this  state 
is  reached  the  sun  may,  no  doubt,  be  an  incandes- 
cent solid  with  a  brilliance  as  great  as  is  compati- 
ble with  that  condition,  but  the  further  loss  of  heat 
will  then  involve  loss  of  temperature.  .  .  .  There 
seems  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  the  con- 
tinuous loss  of  solar  heat  must  still  go  on,  so  that 
the  sun  will  pass  through  the  various  stages  of 
brilliant  incandescence,  of  glowing  redness,  of  dull 
redness,  until  it  ultimately  becomes  a  dark  and 
non- luminous  star.  ,  .  There  is  thus  a  distinct 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  33 

limit  to  man's  existence  on  the  earth,  dictated  by 
the  ultimate  exhaustion  of  the  sun.  .  .  .  The  ut- 
most amount  of  heat  that  it  would  ever  have  been 
possible  for  the  sun  to  contain  would,  according  to 
this  authority  (Professor  Langley),  supply  its  ra- 
diation for  eighteen  million  years  at  the  present 
rate.  ...  It  seems  that  the  sun  has  already  dissi- 
pated about  four-fifths  of  the  energy  with  which  it 
may  have  originally  been  endowed.  At  all  events, 
it  seems  that,  radiating  energy  at  its  present  rate, 
the  sun  may  hold  out  for  four  million  years  or  for 
five  million  years,  but  not  for  ten  million  years. 
.  .  .  "We  have  seen  that  it  does  not  seem  possible 
for  any  other  source  of  heat  to  be  available  for  re- 
plenishing the  waning  stores  of  the  luminary."  He 
concludes  by  saying  that  the  original  heat  may  have 
been  imparted  as  the  result  of  some  great  collision, 
the  solar  body  having  itself  been  dark  before  the 
collision  occurred,  and  that  it  may  be  reinvigorated 
by  a  repetition  of  a  similar  startling  process,  but 
indicates  in  general  terms  that  such  an  operation 
would  be  bad  for  the  round  world  and  all  contained 
therein.  It  would,  in  fact,  be  rough  treatment  for 
even  a  hopeless  case. 

Condensation  of  the  solar  volume  is  unquestion- 
ably a  source  of  heat,  for  we  know  that  the  solid  or 
liquid  interior  of  the  earth  increases  in  temperature 
at  a  definite  ratio  as  we  descend  through  its  crust ; 
but  long  before  the  sun  shall  have  become  contracted 
to  the  density  of  the  earth  all  its  heat  will  have  be- 
come substantially  internal  heat,  and  it  can  then  sup- 
ply no  more  by  radiation  to  its  surrounding  planets. 


34       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  radiant  energy  of  the 
sun  on  any  of  the  above  hypotheses  is  not  sufficient 
to  account  even  for  the  life  period  of  the  earth  in 
the  past,  and  that  its  future  period  of  energy  must 
be  still  more  brief.  Professor  Ball  ("  In  the  High 
Heavens"),  basing  his  views  on  Laplace's  "  Nebular 
Hypothesis,"  says,  "  Looking  back  into  the  remote 
ages,  we  thus  see  that  the  sun  was  larger  and  larger 
the  further  back  we  project  our  view.  If  we  go 
sufficiently  far  back,  we  seem  to  come  to  a  time 
when  the  sun,  in  a  more  or  less  completely  gaseous 
state,  filled  up  the  surrounding  space  out  to  the 
orbit  of  Mercury,  or,  earlier  still,  out  to  the  orbit 
of  the  remotest  planet."  According  to  this  hy- 
pothesis, all  these  brilliant  suns,  the  author  says, 
will  "  settle  down  into  dark  bodies  like  the  earth," 
and  that  "  every  analogy  would  teach  us  that 
the  dark  and  non-luminous  bodies  in  the  uni- 
verse are  far  more  numerous  than  the  brilliant 
suns.  We  can  never  see  the  dark  objects;  we  can 
discern  their  presence  only  indirectly.  All  the 
stars  that  we  can  see  are  merely  those  bodies  which 
at  this  epoch*  of  their  career  happen  for  the  time  to 
be  so  highly  heated  as  to  be  luminous.  ...  It 
may  happen  that  there  are  dark  bodies  in  the 
vicinity  of  some  of  the  bright  stars  to  which  these 
stars  act  as  illuminants,  just  in  the  same  way  as  the 
sun  disperses  light  to  the  planets."  One  would 
naturally  suppose,  however,  that  there  must  be 
some  sort  of  laws  to  govern  such  stupendous  oper- 
ations, and  that  nature  is  not  merely  engaged  in 
blowing  bubbles.  To  quote  Professor  Newcomb  : 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  35 

"  At  the  present  time  we  can  only  say  that  the 
nebular  hypothesis  is  indicated  by  the  general  ten- 
dencies of  the  laws  of  nature ;  that  it  has  not  been 
proved  to  be  inconsistent  with  any  fact;  that  it  is 
almost  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  only  theory  by 
which  we  can  account  for  the  origin  and  conservation 
of  the  sun's  heat ;  but  that  it  rests  on  the  assumption 
that  this  conservation  is  to  be  explained  by  the  laws 
of  nature  as  we  now  see  them  in  operation.  Should 
any  one  be  sceptical  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  these 
laws  to  account  for  the  present  state  of  things, 
science  can  furnish  no  evidence  strong  enough  to 
overthrow  his  doubts  until  the  sun  shall  be  found 
growing  smaller  by  actual  measurement,  or  the 
nebulae  be  actually  seen  to  condense  into  stars  and 
systems." 

While  the  validity  of  the  views  set  forth  in 
the  present  volume  does  not  depend  on  the  suf- 
ficiency or  insufficiency  of  the  nebular  hypothesis, 
and  in  fact  requires  the  condensation  as  well  as 
the  expansion  of  the  solar  volume  under  the  influence 
of  heat  to  be  recognized  and  its  extreme  importance 
pointed  out,  yet  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  this 
great  generalization  of  Kant  and  Laplace,  based  on 
the  views  presented  originally  by  Sir  William  Her- 
schel,  is  established,  or  that  the  difficulties  in  its 
way  are  not  so  enormous  as  to  be  almost  insuper- 
able. Professor  Ball  points  out  that  thousands  of 
bodies  occupy  our  solar  system,  and  together  com- 
pose it  as  a  whole ;  that  these  have  orbits  of  every 
sort  of  eccentricity  and  direction,  and  occupying 
all  possible  planes  which  can  pass  through  the  sun ; 


36      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

that  the  bodies  circle  around  the  sun,  some  back- 
ward and  others  forward,  and  that  only  the  planets 
seem  to  conform  to  some  common  order;  and  with- 
out this  order,  which  may  be  accidental,  so  far  as 
our  knowledge  goes,  the  system  would  have  been 
disrupted  long  since,  if  it  ever  could  have  begun 
its  operations;  and  that  in  this  view  the  heavens 
may  be  strewn  with  wrecks  of  systems  which  failed 
to  survive  from  inherent  want  of  harmony, — that 
is  to  say,  as  based  on  observation  only.  Whether 
the  nebular  hypothesis  be  a  universal  or  a  partial 
law  of  development,  or  whether  the  real  processes 
be  quite  different,  cannot,  however,  depend  on  the 
continued  maintenance  and  evolution  of  the  sun's 
energy,  as  this  source  must  in  truth  be  sought  for 
in  quite  a  different  direction. 

The  remaining  hypothesis  (the  seventh)  is  con- 
sidered in  detail  in  Professor  Proctor's  work, 
"  Mysteries  of  Time  and  Space."  The  fatal  defect 
in  Dr.  Siemens's  theory  is,  that  his  gases  will  not 
be  projected  from  the  sun's  equator.  Professor 
Proctor  says,  "  Thus  the  centripetal  tendency  of 
matter  at  the  sun's  equator  is  very  much  greater 
(many  hundreds  of  times  greater)  than  its  cen- 
trifugal tendency,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest 
possibility  of  matter  being  projected  into  space  from 
the  sun's  surface  by  centrifugal  tendency.  Nor  is 
there  any  part  of  the  sun's  mass  where  the  cen- 
trifugal tendency  is  greater  than  at  the  surface  near 
the  equator.  80  that,  whatever  else  the  sun  may 
be  doing  to  utilize  his  mighty  energies,  he  is  cer- 
tainly not  throwing  oft'  matter  constantly  from  his 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  37 

equatorial  regions,  as  Dr.  Siemens's  theory  re- 
quires." There  are  other  difficulties  which  Pro- 
fessor Proctor  considers,  such  as  the  doubt  as  to 
the  power  of  the  sun's  rays  to  disassociate  com- 
bined gases  in  space,  and  also  that,  since  both  light 
and  heat  must  be  utilized  in  this  work,  if  the  sun's 
energies  are  to  be  perpetually  renewed,  these  forces 
would  sensibly  disappear  in  work,  and  the  result 
would  be  that  the  fixed  stars  would  be  invisible 
beyond  their  domains,  and  their  light,  when  not 
totally  cut  off,  would  be  greatly  diminished,  in  any 
event,  as  distances  increased,  which  is  not  the  case. 
Besides,  these  gases  thus  disassociated  could  never 
be  entirely  used  by  the  sun,  and  the  remainder 
would  be  wasted,  and  the  part  wasted  would  vastly 
exceed  that  utilized,  probably  in  as  great  proportion 
of  waste  as  that  of  the  sun's  light  not  utilized  by 
the  planets,  which  gather  but  one  two-huhdred-and- 
thirty- two-mil lionths  of  the  whole.  It  may  be  fur- 
ther added  that  these  gases  would  be  mechanically 
mixed,  the  combined  and  the  disassociated,  and 
this  would  be  mostly  the  case  in  those  parts  nearest 
the  sun,  so  that  large  volumes  of  spent  and  useless 
gases  would  have  to  be  carried  in  to  no  purpose 
whatever.  In  fact,  these  gases  would  gradually 
form  a  closed  circuit  of  supply  and  discharge,  and 
surrounding  space  would  be  but  slightly  affected. 
Professor  Proctor  concludes,  "  We  have,  in  fact,  the 
fallacy  of  perpetual  motion  in  a  modified  form." 

It  will  be  apparent  that  under  any  single  one,  or 
all,  of  these  hypotheses,  the  future  prospect  for 
created  forms  and  continued  existence  is  hopeless, 

4 


38       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  that  the  inevitable  result  must  do  violence  to 
every  conception  of  either  an  intelligent  creative 
power  or  the  operations  of  universal  law.  The 
mind  revolts  from  the  continued  degradation  and 
destruction  of  all  organic  creation,  while  the  ma- 
levolent and  iconoclastic  forces  of  nature  hold  high 
revel  over  final  ruin  and  eternal  destruction,  brought 
about  by  their  own  incessant  efforts,  striking  out 
blindly  to  make  or  mar,  and  they  alone  the  death- 
less survivors,  the  half-blind  fates  and  furies  of  the 
eternal  future.  It  betokens,  not  the  processes  of 
orderly  government,  but  the  reign  of  anarchy. 

NOTE.— Since  this  work  has  been  in  press,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Brit- 
ish Association,  August  8, 1894,  Lord  Salisbury,  the  President,  delivered  a  pow- 
erful and  lucid  address  on  the  present  status  of  scientific  knowledge  and  its 
limitations.  With  reference  to  the  antiquity  of  the  earth  we  quote  the  fol- 
lowing: "It  is  evident,  from  the  increase  of  heat  as  we  descend  into  the 
earth,  that  the  earth  is  cooling,  and  we  know,  by  experiment  within  certain 
wide  limits,  the  rate  at  which  its  substances— the  matters  of  which  it  is  con- 
stituted—are found  to  cool.  It  follows  that  we  can  approximately  calculate 
how  hot  it  was  so  many  million  years  ago ;  but  if  at  any  time  it  was  hotter 
at  the  surface  by  fifty  degrees  Fahrenheit  than  it  is  now,  life  would  theix  have 
been  impossible  upon  the  planet,  and,  therefore,  we  can  without  much  diffi- 
culty fix  a  date  before  which  organic  life  on  earth  cannot  have  existed. 
Basing  himself  on  these  considerations,  Lord  Kelvin  limited  the  period  of 
organic  life  upon  the  earth  to  a  hundred  million  years,  and  Professor  Tait,  in 
a  still  more  penurious  spirit,  cut  that  hundred  down  to  ten."  If  a  period  of 
anything  like  ten  million  years,  even,  has  been  requisite  to  cool  the  earth's 
surface  only  fifty  degrees  in  temperature,  what  time  must  have  elapsed  since 
the  terrestrial  globe  had  a  temperature  high  enough  to  effect  the  difficult 
chemical  combinations  of  many  of  the  elements  which  compose  its  struct- 
ure? And  even  this  must  have  been  far  less  than  the  vast  cycles  of  time 
during  which  original  consolidation  was  effected.  Through  all  these  ages 
the  sun  must  have  been  pouring  out  his  radiant  energy  at  at  least  his  present 
rate.  Radiation  of  heat  from  the  earth  may  have  been  relatively  less  rapid 
from  a  denser  carbon-laden  atmosphere  in  times  past  than  at  present,  but  it 
never  could  have  been  more  so.  The  whole  address  cited  is,  indeed,  strongly 
corroborative  of  the  facts  upon  which  the  present  work  is  based. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   AND   PHENOMENA   OF   THE   SUN. 

THE  various  theories  thus  reviewed,  while  not 
sufficient  in  themselves  to  account  for  the  facts 
of  our  own  solar  system,  are  fatally  defective  in 
another  respect.  While  they  aim  to  account  for 
the  sun's  light  and  heat,  they  all  fail  to  consider 
the  active  medium  of  the  solar  light  and  heat  in 
the  sun  itself.  It  is  not  simply  a  highly-heated 
central  mass  glowing  in  space.  It  is  a  vast  orb 
surrounded  by  different  envelopes  of  incandescent 
vapors  or  gases,  and  by  far  the  most  vast  in  volume, 
as  well  as  in  light  and  heat-radiating  power,  are  the 
photosphere  and  its  superincumbent  chromosphere, 
composed  almost  entirely  of  free  hydrogen  gas  in 
a  state  of  intense  incandescence.  Whence  comes 
this  enormous  mass  of  hydrogen  ?  And  how  ex- 
plain the  entire  absence  of  free  hydrogen  gas  from 
our  own  atmosphere  and  its  replacement  by  oxy- 
gen ?  There  is  a  recent  theory  propounded  by  Mr. 
A.  Mott,  which  is  set  forth  in  detail  in  Professor 
Ball's  "  In  the  High  Heavens."  and  which  endeav- 
ors to  account  for  the  remarkable  absence  of  free 
hydrogen  gas  from  the  earth's  atmosphere,  for,  as 
the  author  states,  "  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  hydro- 
gen in  the  free  state  is  absent  from  our  atmos- 
phere." The  theory,  in  brief,  is  that  the  molecules 
of  hydrogen  gas  have  an  average  speed  of  about  a 


40       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

mile  a  second, — which,  however,  is  only  one-seventh 
that  required  to  shoot  them  off  into  space, — but  that 
these  molecules  are  continually  changing  their  ve- 
locity, and  may  sometimes  attain  a  speed  of  seven 
miles  a  second;  the  result  is  that  "  every  now  and 
then  a  molecule  of  hydrogen  succeeds  in  bolting 
away  from  the  earth  altogether  arid  escaping  into 
open  space."  During  past  ages  the  molecules  of 
hydrogen  would  thus  have  gradually  wiggled  up 
through  the  air,  and  finally  disappeared  into  outer 
darkness  for  good  and  all;  and  thus  "  the  fact  that 
there  is  at  present  no  free  hydrogen  in  the  air  over 
our  heads  may  be  accounted  for."  Since  the  mole- 
cules of  oxygen  have  only  a  velocity  of  a  quarter 
mile  a  second,  that  unfortunate  gas  remains  behind 
and  is  consumed. 

The  first  difficulty  with  this  theory  is  to  explain 
how,  if  the  hydrogen  wiggled  off  in  this  uncere- 
monious manner,  it  ever  wiggled  on.  There  is  no 
objection  to  a  gait  of  this  rapidity,  however ;  it  is 
highly  creditable,  in  fact ;  but  we  have  a  right  to 
expect  some  degree  of  consistency  in  even  so  light- 
headed a  body  as  hydrogen  gas.  The  article  quoted 
thus  continues :  "  If  the  mass  of  the  earth  were  very 
much  larger  than  it  is,  then  the  velocities  with  which 
the  molecules  of  hydrogen  wend  their  way  would 
never  be  sufficiently  high  to  enable  them  to  quit 
the  earth  altogether,  and  consequently  we  might  in 
such  a  case  expect  to  find  our  atmosphere  largely 
charged  with  hydrogen."  It  will  be  seen  that,  ac- 
cording to  this  theory,  hydrogen  is  able  to  achieve 
a  speed  of  seven  miles  per  second  under  excep- 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   41 

tional  excitement,  and  that  this  molecular  velocity 
is  just  enough,  and  no  more  than  enough,  to  give 
it  egress.  We  know  that  Jupiter's  mass  is  three 
hundred  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  earth,  and 
the  attraction  of  gravity  is  so  powerful  on  the  sur- 
face of  that  planet  that,  as  the  writer  just  quoted 
says,  "  Walking,  or  even  standing,  would  involve 
the  most  fearful  exertion,  while  rising  from  bed  in 
the  morning  would  be  a  difficult,  indeed,  probably, 
an  impossible,  process."  We  also  know  that  the 
atmosphere  of  this  planet  is  laden  with  enormous 
clouds  floating  at  various  altitudes  and  with  inces- 
sant movements.  We  are  told  that  "  the  molecular 
speed  of  aqueous  vapor  averages  only  one-third  of 
that  attained  by  the  molecules  of  hydrogen."  Of 
course,  on  the  planet  Jupiter,  hydrogen  would  have 
no  chance  of  escape  at  all  :  it  would  just  have  to 
stay  and  take  it,  like  the  rest  of  us.  Jupiter  must 
thus  have  an  atmosphere  like  our  own,  except  that 
it  is  "  largely  charged  with  hydrogen."  Of  the 
clouds  upon  this  planet,  Professor  Ball  says,  "  In 
fact,  the  longer  we  look  at  Jupiter  the  more  we 
become  convinced  that  the  surface  of  the  planet  is 
swathed  with  a  mighty  volume  of  clouds  so  dense 
and  so  impenetrable  that  our  most  powerful  tele- 
scopes have  never  yet  been  able  to  pierce  through 
them  down  to  the  solid  surface  of  the  planet." 
With  the  densities,  molecular  velocities,  and  spe- 
cific gravity  of  the  oxygen,  nitrogen,  and  the  hy- 
drogen, with  which  latter  the  atmosphere  of  Jupiter 
must  be  "  largely  charged,"  as  it  is  said,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  such  enormous  clouds  of 

4* 


42       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

aqueous  vapors,  themselves  composed  of  oxygen, 
which  is  a  very  slow-footed  gas,  and  hydrogen, 
could  travel  about  with  such  facility ;  we  ought  to 
find  them  packed  down  like  London  fog,  to  say  the 
least,  upon  the  surface  of  that  planet,  with  the 
supernatant  gases  all  adrift  overhead.  Jupiter  is  a 
hot  body ;  it  has  not  yet  cooled  down ;  and  if  it  is 
provided  with  volcanoes,  such  as  its  great  red  spot 
and  the  analogies  of  the  earth  and  moon  would 
suggest,  we  can  tell  pretty  nearly  what  would  have 
happened  long  ago  with  a  Jovian  atmosphere  like 
ours;  but  "largely  charged  with  hydrogen,"  if  we 
compare  it  with,  say,  an  equal  mass  of  dynamite 
touched  oft'  by  a  volcanic  explosion ;  there  would 
not  have  been  enough  of  old  Jupiter  left  to  swear 
by,  and  what  was  left  would  not  have  had  any  at- 
mosphere at  all.  On  Mars,  the  same  writer  thinks 
the  oxygen  would  still  cling,  like  the  fragrance  of 
the  rose,  but  that  all  the  molecules  of  the  fleet- 
footed  and  excitable  hydrogen  would  long  since 
have  taken  French  leave,  as  it  did  from  the  earth ; 
but  at  the  moon,  on  account  of  its  small  size  and 
mass,  both  gases  would  have  gone  off  incontinently 
together.  "  It  is  now  easy,"  the  author  says,  "  to 
account  for  the  absence  of  atmosphere  from  the 
moon.  .  .  .  Neither  of  the  gases,  oxygen  or  nitro- 
gen, to  say  nothing  of  hydrogen,  could  possibly 
exist  in  the  free  state  on  a  globe  of  the  mass  and 
dimensions  of  our  satellite.  .  .  .  Indeed,  the  weight 
of  every  object  on  the  moon  would  be  reduced  to 
the  sixth  part  of  that  which  the  same  object  has  on 
earth."  Nevertheless,  it  may  be  said  that  the 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   43 

moon  has  considerable  weight,  as  weights  go,  but 
with  a  comet  it  is  quite  a  different  matter.  "  These 
bodies,"  the  author  says, "  demonstrate  conclusively 
that  the  quantity  of  matter  even  in  a  comet  is  ex- 
tremely small  when  compared  with  its  bulk.  The 
conclusion  thus  arrived  at  is  confirmed  by  the  fact 
that  our  efforts  to  obtain  the  weight  of  a  comet 
have  hitherto  proved  unsuccessful.  ...  It  has  thus 
been  demonstrated  that,  notwithstanding  the  stu- 
pendous bulk  of  a  great  comet,  its  mass  must  have 
been  so  inconsiderable  as  to  have  been  insufficient 
to  disturb  even  such  unimportant  members  of  the 
solar  system  as  the  satellites  of  Jupiter."  Now, 
here  is  a  state  of  things ;  for  the  spectroscope  shows 
that  comets  are  fully  provided  with  a  large  supply 
of  hydrogen,  enough  and  to  spare  for  ornament, 
even,  and  of  nitrogen  also,  while  it  is  the  ab- 
normally fugacious  oxygen  which  has,  apparently, 
taken  its  departure.  Of  course,  such  facts  demon- 
strate the  untenability  of  the  theory,  which  is,  be- 
sides, in  direct  contradiction  with  the  laws  govern- 
ing gaseous  diffusion.  Gases  pass  into  each  other 
with  the  same  velocity  as  into  a  vacuum,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  imagined  that  the  molecules  of  hydrogen 
could  thus  move  individually  off,  unless  forced  up- 
ward by  the  pressure  of  some  other  gas,  which 
the  law  of  gaseous  diffusion  makes  impossible. 
We  should  as  readily  expect  to  see  a  tumbler  full 
of  iron  balls,  into  the  interstices  of  which  loose  sand 
has  been  poured,  manifest  a  similar  phenomenon 
by  the  wiggling  out  of  the  less  dense  sand  at  the 
top  of  the  glass.  One  might  also  ask  whence,  if 


44       SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

this  theory  had  any  substantial  basis,  could  come 
the  enormous  volumes  of  hydrogen  gas  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  a  new  or  temporary  star,  in  a  few 
hours,  or  the  changes  manifested  in  the  atmospheres 
of  the  variable  stars.  So,  also,  the  nebular  or  any 
other  hypothesis  of  creation  would  be  impossible 
under  this  theory,  as  the  heavier  and  less  mobile 
gaseous  elements  would  remain  behind,  or  be  con- 
densed nearest  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  aggre- 
gating nebula,  while  the  more  rapid  gases  would 
disappear  outwardly,  and  in  consequence  the  sun 
would  be  found  to  be  composed  of  the  heavier  ele- 
ments exclusively,  and  each  of  the  planets,  in  turn, 
would  consist  of  only  one  or  two  elements,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  more  and  more  mobile  character 
of  their  molecular  movements,  and  the  uniformity 
of  chemical  constitution  between  the  sun  and  plan- 
ets, as  well  as  the  fixed  stars,  would  not  be  found 
to  exist.  The  theory,  in  fact,  is  an  example  of  the 
endeavor  to  explain  an  easily  understood  difficulty 
by  a  less  easily  understood  impossibility. 

None  of  the  different  theories  even  attempt  to 
account  for  the  prodigious  volumes  of  hydrogen  in 
the  solar  atmosphere,  and  without  its  presence  the 
sun,  so  far  as  wre  know,  would  be  almost  an  inert 
mass,  considered  as  a  source  of  energy  for  the  sup- 
ply of  our  planetary  system.  We  know,  of  course, 
that  meteors  contain  sometimes  as  much  as  six 
volumes  of  gases,  largely  composed  of  hydrogen, 
at  our  own  atmospheric  pressure.  But  the  pressure 
at  the  sun's  surface  is  more  than  twenty-seven  times 
that  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  yet  the  volume 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   45 

of  hydrogen  there-  existing  visibly  is  vaster  beyond 
computation  than  any  possible  mass  of  meteoric 
material  could  supply.  So,  also,  while  it  may  be 
granted  that  condensation  of  volume  must  vastly 
raise  the  solar  temperature,  how  could  it  produce 
the  enormous  masses  of  hydrogen,  the  lightest  of 
all  the  elements,  unless  they  have  been  temporarily 
occluded  and  finally  thrown  out  from  within,  which 
is  impossible  ?  These  vast  volumes  of  hydrogen  are 
to  be  considered  first  of  all  in  any  attempt  what- 
ever to  solve  the  problem  of  the  source  and  mode 
of  solar  energy. 

Considering  the  phenomena  presented  within 
the  limits  of  our  own  solar  system  alone,  we  find 
that  the  earth  is  one  of  a  single  family  of  planets, 
each  of  which  very  closely  resembles  it,  and  all  of 
which  circle,  in  slightly  elliptical  orbits,  at  various 
distances  around  the  sun,  their  orbits  occupying 
substantially  the  same  plane,  thus  making  our  solar 
system  a  flat  disk  of  space  occupied  by  the  sun  as  a 
center,  with  the  planets  and  their  satellites  moving 
harmoniously  around  it.  The  planets  differ  from 
each  other  in  size,  mass,  and  temperature,  but  each 
is  surrounded  by  an  envelope  of  aqueous  vapor, 
suspended  in  an  atmosphere  substantially  like  our 
own.  Professor  Proctor,  in  his  "  Light  Science  for 
Leisure  Hours,"  says  of  the  planet  Jupiter,  "  His 
i  real  surface  is  always  veiled  by  his  dense  and  vapor- 
laden  atmosphere.  Saturn,  Venus,  and  Mercury 
are  similarly  circumstanced.'7  Of  Mars  he  says 
that  it  is  "  distinctly  marked  (in  telescopes  of  suf- 
ficient power)  with  continents  and  oceans  which 


46       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

are  rarely  concealed  by  vapors."  Now,  whence 
comes  this  aqueous  vapor  surrounding  all  the  plan- 
ets? Whether  received  originally  from  the  dif- 
fused nebular  mass  from  which  our  solar  system  is 
supposed  to  have  been  condensed,  or  attracted  by 
the  force  of  gravity  from  interplanetary  space,  like 
the  meteors  which  fall  upon  the  earth's  surface,  it 
is  evident  that  interplanetary  space  must  once  have 
been  pervaded  with  aqueous  vapor,  since  the  nebular 
mass  from  which  our  solar  system  was  constituted 
must  have  occupied  at  least  the  space  embraced 
within  its  largest  planetary  orbit,  and  doubtless 
much  more;  and  if  so,  such  aqueous  vapor,  and 
other  vapors  also,  must  still  persist  in  space,  just  as 
the  meteoric  particles  which  so  constantly  manifest 
themselves  in  our  atmosphere.  If  the  planets  had 
no  common  origin,  the  evidence  is  equally  conclu- 
sive, since  then  this  identical  substance  could  only 
have  been  derived  from  a  common  source,  which 
can  only  be  interplanetary  space.  This  also  is 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  attraction,  which 
would  operate  to  gather  and  condense  the  rarefied 
aqueous  vapor  of  space  around  the  planetary  masses 
in  definite  proportions.  In  his  "  Familiar  Essays 
on  Scientific  Subjects,"  Professor  Proctor  says,  "  In 
fact,  we  do  thus  recognize  in  the  spectra  of  Mars, 
Yenus,  and  other  planets  the  presence  of  aqueous 
vapor  in  their  atmosphere;"  and  in  his  "  Mysteries 
of  Time  and  Space"  he  says,  "  We  may  admit  the 
possibility  that  the  aqueous  vapor  and  carbon  com- 
pounds are  present  in  stellar  or  interplanetary 
space."  But  in  addition  to  this  aqueous  vapor 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA    OF  THE  SUN.   47 

which  surrounds  the  planetary  bodies,  we  find 
free  oxygen  in  vast  quantities,  and,  with  this,  free 
nitrogen  in  mechanical  admixture,  and  these  to- 
gether constitute  the  atmosphere  we  breathe,  and 
which  sustains  organic  life  by  a  process  of  slow 
combustion.  But  we  find  no  free  hydrogen  either 
in  our  own  atmosphere  or  in  that  of  other  planets. 
Turning  now  to  the  sun,  we  find  that  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  an  atmosphere  as  well  as  the  planets, 
but  that  this  atmosphere  is  composed  not  of  free 
oxygen,  but  of  free  hydrogen.  In  his  article, 
"  Oxygen  in  the  Sun,"  Professor  Proctor  says, 
"  Fourteen  only  of  the  elements  known  to  us,  or 
less  than  a  quarter  of  the  total  number,  were  thus 
found  to  be  present  in  the  sun's  constitution ;  and 
of  these  all  were  metals,  if  we  regard  hydrogen 
as  metallic.  .  .  .  But  most  remarkable  of  all,  and 
most  perplexing,  was  the  absence  of  all  trace  of 
oxygen  and  nitrogen,  two  gases  which  could  not 
be  supposed  wanting  in  the  substance  of  the  great 
ruling  center  of  the  planetary  system."  The  re- 
searches of  Dr.  Draper  indicated,  however,  that 
oxygen  could  be  found  in  the  sun;  not  in  his 
external  atmosphere  but  far  down  within  his  sur- 
face. Professor  Proctor  says,  "Dr.  Draper  men- 
tions that  he  has  found  no  traces  of  oxygen  above 
the  photosphere."  Such  free  oxygen  cannot  be 
associated  with  the  hydrogen,  however,  even  if 
its  presence  be  finally  determined,  but  it  may  be 
due  to  the  deoxidation  of  solid  compounds  pre- 
cipitated upon  the  sun  from  space,  and  held  at 
a  temperature  above  that  of  disassociation,  as  hy- 


48       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

drogen  is  sometimes  generated  at  the  surface  of 
the  earth. 

The  vast  mass  of  the  solar  atmosphere  is  com- 
posed of  hydrogen  gas,  with  which  are  found  com- 
mingled vapors  of  the  various  elements  which  enter 
into  the  sun's  constitution,  and  this  solar  atmos- 
phere corresponds  in  proportion,  speaking  gener- 
ally, with  our  own  atmosphere,  except  that  the 
volume  of  solar  hydrogen  is  vastly  greater  than 
that  of  terrestrial  oxygen,  for  the  reason,  as  will  be 
explained,  that  water  contains  two  volumes  of  the 
former  to  one  of  the  latter. 

In  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  the  sun  is  thus  de- 
scribed, (article  by  Professors  Langley  and  Proc- 
tor) :  "  To  sum  up  briefly  the  received  hypotheses 
of  the  physical  constitution  of  the  sun  :  of  its  inter- 
nal structure  we  know  nothing,  but  we  can  infer, 
from  the  low  density  of  the  solar  globe  as  a  whole, 
that  no  considerable  portion  is  solid  or  liquid.  The 
regions  we  examine  appear  to  consist  of  cloud  lay- 
ers at  several  levels  floating  in  a  complex  atmos- 
phere, in  which  probably  most  of  the  elements  are 
known  to  us,  and  certainly  many  of  them  exist  in 
the  form  of  vapor.  Outside  this  complex  atmos- 
phere extend  envelopes  of  simpler  constitution, 
though  into  them  occasionally  arise  the  vapors 
which  ordinarily  lie  lower  down.  The  sierra,  for 
instance,  consists  in  the  main  of  glowing  hydrogen 
gas  and  that  gas,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  pro- 
duces the  line  near  the  orange-yellow  sodium  lines. 
The  prominence  region  may  be  regarded  as  simply 
the  extension  of  the  sierra."  Of  these  prominences, 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   49 

Professor  Ball  says,  "  The  memorable  discovery 
made  by  Janssen  and  Lockyer,  independently,  in 
1868,  showed  that  the  prominences  could  be  ob- 
served without  the  help  of  an  eclipse, .by  the  happy 
employment  of  the  peculiar  refrangibility  of  the 
rosy  light  which  these  prominences  emit.  .  .  .  We 
can  now  obtain,  not,  as  heretofore,  merely  isolated 
views  of  special  prominences  through  the  widely 
opened  slit  of  the  spectroscope,  but  we  are  furnished, 
after  a  couple  of  minutes'  exposure,  with  a  complete 
photograph  of  the  prominences  surrounding  the 
sun.  .  .  .  The  incandescent  region  of  the  chromo- 
sphere from  which  these  prominences  arise  is  also 
recorded  with  accuracy."  Resuming  our  quotation 
from  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia :  "  The  inner  corona 
is  still  simpler  than  the  sierra,  so  far  as  its  gaseous  N 
constitution  is  concerned;  but  here  meteoric  and 
cometic  matter  appears,  extending  to  the  outer 
corona  and  to  great  distances  beyond  even  the  visi- 
ble limits  of  the  zodiacal.  Returning  to  the  pho- 
tosphere, we  find  it  subject  to  continual  fluctua- 
tions, both  from  local  causes  of  agitation  and  from 
the  subjacent  vapor  acting  by  its  elasticity  to  burst 
through  it ;  the  faculse,  which  are  found  to  be  above 
the  general  level  of  the  photosphere,  are  taken  to 
be  heapings  up  of  the  luminous  matter  like  the 
crested  surges  of  the  sea.  All  the  strata  are  subject 
to  great  movements,  which  sometimes  have  the 
character  of  uniform  progression  analogous  to  our 
trade-winds,  and  sometimes  are  violent,  and  re- 
semble in  their  effects  our  tornadoes  and  whirl- 
winds. Eruptive  action  appears  to  operate  from 
c  d  5 


50      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGF. 

time  to  time  with  exceeding  violence,  but  whether 
the  enormous  velocities  of  outrush  are  due  to  true 
explosive  action  (which  would  compel  us  to  be- 
lieve that  the  sun  is  enclosed  by  a  liquid  shell,  so 
as  to  resemble  a  gigantic  bubble)  or  to  the  up- 
rising of  lighter  vapors  from  enormous  depths,  as 
heated  currents  rise  in  our  own  atmosphere,  is  not 
as  yet  certainly  known."  The  sierra,  or  chromo- 
sphere, is  thus  described  in  the  same  article  :  "  The 
sierra  presents  four  aspects :  1,  smooth  with  de- 
fined outline ;  2,  smooth  but  with  no  defined  out- 
line ;  3,  fringed  with  filaments ;  and,  4,  irregularly 
fringed  with  small  flames.  The  prominences  may 
be  divided  into  three  orders, — heaps,  jets,  and 
plumes.  The  heaped  prominences  need  no  special 
description.  The  jets  ...  originate  generally  in 
rectilinear  jets  either  vertical  or  oblique,  very  bright 
and  very  well  defined.  They  rise  to  a  great  height, 
often  to  a  height  of  at  least  eighty  thousand  miles, 
and  occasionally  to  more  than  twice  that ;  then  bend- 
ing back,  fall  again  upon  the  sun  like  the  jets  of  our 
fountains.  Then  they  spread  into  figures  resem- 
bling gigantic  trees  more  or  less  rich  in  branches. 
Their  luminosity  is  intense,  insomuch  that  they  can 
be  seen  through  the  light  clouds  into  which  the  sierra 
breaks  up.  Their  spectrum  indicates  the  presence 
of  many  elements  besides  hydrogen.  When  they 
have  reached  a  certain  height  they  cease  to  grow, 
and  become  transformed  into  exceedingly  bright 
masses,  which  eventually  separate  into  fleecy  clouds. 
The  jet  prominences  last  but  a  short  time — rarely  an 
hour,  frequently  but  a  few  minutes, — and  they  are 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   51 

only  to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  spots. 
Wherever  there  are  jet  prominences  there  also  are 
faculse.  The  plume  prominences  are  distinguished 
from  the  jets  in  not  being  characterized  by  any 
signs  of  an  eruptive  origin.  They  often  extend  to 
an  enormous  height ;  they  last  longer  than  the  jets, 
though  subject  to  rapid  changes  of  figure;  and, 
lastly,  they  are  distributed  indifferently  over  the 
sun's  surface.  It  would  seem  that  in  the  jets  a 
part  of  the  photosphere  is  lifted  up,  whereas  in  the 
case  of  plumes  only  the  sierra  is  disturbed."  Of 
these  eruptions  Professor  Ball  says,  "  Vast  masses 
of  vapors  are  frequently  expelled  from  the  interior 
of  the  sun  by  convulsive  throes  with  a  speed  of 
three  hundred,  four  hundred,  and  sometimes  nearly 
a  thousand  miles  a  second.  .  .  .  The  spectroscope 
enables  the  observer  actually  to  witness  the  ascent 
of  these  solar  prominences." 

The  corona,  which  extends  beyond  the  chromo- 
sphere, has  been  determined  by  its  continuous 
spectrum  to  be  a  vast  envelope  extending  at  least 
a  million  miles  from  the  sun's  surface.  "  It  cannot 
be  a  solar  atmosphere,"  Professor  Proctor  observes 
in  his  article  on  this  subject,  in  his  "  Mysteries  of 
Time  and  Space.".  .  .  "It  will  be  seen,  then,  how 
inconceivably  great  the  pressure  exerted  by  a  solar 
atmosphere  some  eight  thousand  times  as  deep  as 
ours  would  necessarily  be,  let  the  nature  of  the 
gases  composing  it  be  what  it  may.".  .  .  "If  a 
man  could  be  placed  on  the  solar  surface,  his  own 
weight  would  crush  him  as  effectually  as  though 
while  on  earth  a  weight  of  a  couple  of  tons  were 


52      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

heaped  upon  him.  .  .  .  Now,  it  happens  that  we 
know  quite  well  that  the  pressure  exerted  by  the 
real  solar  atmosphere,  even  close  by  the  bright 
surface  which  forms  the  visible  globe  of  the  sun,  is 
nothing  like  so  great  as  it  would  be  if  the  corona 
formed  part  of  that  atmosphere."  In  the  article 
"  Sun,"  in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  it  is  stated  that 
"  Mr.  Arthur  W.  Wright,  of  Yale  College,  has  suc- 
ceeded in  showing  that  this  light  (the  zodiacal)  is 
not  emitted  from  incandescent  gas,  but  reflected 
from  particles  or  small  bodies,  and  hence  derived 
from  the  sun.".  .  .  "  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  true  solar  corona  extends  much  farther  (than 
a  million  miles),  and  that,  in  reality,  the  zodiacal 
light  forms  the  outer  part  of  the  solar  corona." 
Proctor,  again,  in  his  article  on  the  corona,  says, 
"  It  would  seem  to  follow  that  the  corona  is  due  to 
bodies  of  some  sort  travelling  around  the  sun,  and 
by  their  motion  preserved  either  from  falling  to- 
wards him  (in  which  case  the  corona  would  quickly 
disappear)  or  from  producing  any 'pressure  upon 
his  surface,  as  an  atmosphere  would."  In  his  arti- 
cle on  "  The  Sun  as  a  Perpetual  Machine,"  he  says, 
"  There  is  every  reason  for  regarding  the  zodiacal 
as  consisting  in  the  main  of  meteorolithic  masses, 
a  sort  of  cosmical  dust,  rushing  through  interplan- 
etary space  with  planetary  velocities.  To  such 
matter,  assuming,  as  we  well  may,  that  space  really 
is  occupied  by  attenuated  vapors,  .  .  .  the  lumi- 
nosity of  the  zodiacal  would  be  attributable  to  par- 
ticles of  dust  emitting  light  reflected  by  the  sun 
or  by  phosphorescence  (this  last  may  be  seriously 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   53 

questioned).  But  there  is  another  cause  for  lumi- 
nosity of  these  particles  which  may  deserve  a  passing 
consideration.  Each  particle  would  be  electrified 
by  gaseous  friction  in  its  acceleration,  and  its  elec- 
tric tension  would  be  vastly  increased  in  its  forcible 
removal,  in  the  same  way  as  the  fine  dust  of  the 
desert  has  been  observed  by  Werner  Siemens  to  be 
in  a  state  of  high  electrification  on  the  apex  of  the 
Cheops  Pyramid.  Would  not  the  zodiacal  light 
also  find  explanation  by  slow  electric  discharges 
backward  from  the  dust  towards  the  sun?"  It 
may  be  observed  in  passing  that  such  electrical 
glow  is  much  more  prominently,  and  more  likely  to 
be,  the  result  of  induction  than  of  friction.  In  the 
article  "  Sun,"  previously  quoted,  Professor  Young 
says,  "  There  is  surrounding  the  sun,  beyond  any 
further  reasonable  doubt,  a  mass  of  self-luminous 
gaseous  matter,  whose  spectrum  is  characterized  by 
the  green  line  1474  Kirchhoff.  The  precise  extent 
of  this  it  is  hardly  possible  to  consider  as  deter- 
mined, but  it  must  be  many  times  the  thickness  of 
the  red  hydrogen  portion  of  the  sierra,  perhaps,  on  an 
average,  8'  or  10',  with  occasional  horns  of  twice  that 
height.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  it  may  even 
turn  out  to  have  no  upper  limit,  but  to  extend  from 
the  sun  indefinitely  into  space."  In  the  same  arti- 
cle the  sun's  apparent  diameter  is  placed  at  about 
32',  so  that  the  thickness  of  the  above  gaseous  en- 
velope would  be  not  less  than  one-fourth  the  sun's 
diameter,  or  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
miles.  This  coronal  envelope,  extending  out  from 
the  solar  body  until  gradually  merged  into  the  at- 


54       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

tenuated  matter  of  space,  has  a  light  so  feeble  that 
it  can  only  be  clearly  observed  during  total  eclipse. 
Professor  Ball  ("  In  the  High  Heavens")  says,  "  The 
sunlight  is  so  intense  that  if  it  be  reduced  sufficiently 
by  any  artifice,  the  coronal  light  also  suffers  so 
much  abatement  that,  owing  to  its  initial  feeble- 
ness, it  ceases  altogether  to  be  visible."  During 
the  great  eclipse  of  1893  it  was  photographed,  and 
of  these  photographs  the  same  author  says,  "  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  structure 
of  the  corona  is  the  presence  of  streamers  or  lu- 
minous rays  extending  from  the  north  and  south 
poles  of  the  sun.  These  rays  are  generally  more  or 
less  curved,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  phenom- 
ena they  exhibit  are  not  in  some  way  a  consequence 
of  the  rotation  of  the  sun.  This  consideration  is 
connected  with  the  question  as  to  how  far  the 
corona  itself  shares  in  that  rotation  of  the  sun 
with  which  astronomers  are  familiar.  I  should 
perhaps  rather  have  said  that  rotation  of  the  sun's 
photosphere  which,  as  the  sun-spots  prove,  is  ac- 
complished once  every  twenty-five  days.  Even 
this  shell  of  luminous  matter  does  not  revolve  as  a 
rigid  mass  would  do.  By  some  mysterious  law  the 
equatorial  portions  accomplish  their  revolution  in 
a  shorter  period  than  is  required  by  those  zones  of 
the  photosphere  which  lie  nearer  the  north  and 
south  poles  of  the  luminary.  As  to  how  the  parts 
of  the  sun  which  are  interior  to  the  photosphere 
may  revolve,  we  are  quite  ignorant.  .  .  .  We  have 
no  means  of  knowing  to  what  extent  the  corona 
shares  in  the  rotation.  It  would  seem  certain  that 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA    OF  THE  SUN.    55 

the  lower  parts  which  lie  comparatively  near  the 
surface  must  be  affected  by  the  rapid  rotation  of 
the  photosphere ;  but  it  is  very  far  from  certain 
that  this  rotation  can  be  shared  to  any  great  extent 
by  those  parts  of  the  corona  which  lie  at  a  distance 
from  the  sun's  surface  as  great  as  the  solar  radius 
or  diameter.  .  .  .  The  corona  presents  a  curious 
green  line  that  seems  to  denote  some  invariable 
constituent  of  the  sun's  outer  atmosphere,  but  the 
element  to  which  this  green  line  owes  its  origin  is 
wholly  unknown."  The  same  author  quotes  from 
Dr.  Huggins  as  follows  :  "  It  is  interesting  to  read 
what  Dr.  Huggins  has  to  tell  us  about  the  solar 
corona.  The  nature  of  this  marvellous  appendage 
to  the  sun  is  still  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  There 
can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that  the  corona  consists 
of  highly-attenuated  matter  driven  outward  from 
the  sun  by  some  repulsive  force,  and  it  is  also  clear 
that  if  this  force  be  not  electric,  it  must  at  least  be 
something  of  a  very  kindred  character.  ...  So  far 
as  the  spectrum  of  the  corona  is  concerned,  we 
may  summarize  what  is  known  in  the  words  of 
Dr.  Huggins :  c  The  green  coronal  line  has  no 
known  representative  in  terrestrial  substances,  nor 
has  Schuster  been  able  to  recognize  any  of  our 
elements  in  the  other  lines  of  the  corona.' '  The 
account  given  by  General  Myer — quoted  in  Pro- 
fessor Proctor's  article,  "  The  Sun's  Corona" — of 
the  great  eclipse  of  1869,  as  viewed  from  an  alti- 
tude of  five  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  sea- 
level,  is  as  follows :  "  As  a  centre  stood  the  full 
and  intensely  black  disk  of  the  moon,  surrounded 


56       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

by  an  aureola  of  soft  bright  light,  through  which 
shot  out,  as  if  from  the  circumference  of  the  moon, 
straight,  massive  silvery  rays,  seeming  distinct  and 
separate  from  each  other,  to  a  distance  of  two  or 
three  diameters  of  the  lunar  disk ;  the  whole  spec- 
tacle showing  as  upon  a  background  of  diffused 
rose-colored  light.  The  silvery  rays  were  longest 
and  most  prominent  at  four  points  of  the  circum- 
ference, .  .  .  apparently  equidistant  from  each 
other.  There  was  no  motion  of  the  rays  :  they 
seemed  concentric."  Three  diameters  would  make 
these  rays  extend  two  and  a  half  million  miles  at 
least  from  the  sun's  photosphere,  or  even  its  chro- 
mosphere. The  coincidence  between  these  rays 
and  those  observed  (see  above)  in  the  eclipse  of 
1893  must  be  noted,  since  these  latter  were  con- 
ceived at  one  time  to  be  meteor  streams.  As  those 
seen  in  1893  radiated  from  the  poles,  and  were 
curved  in  form,  while  those  last  noted  radiated 
at  four  equidistant  points,  none  polar,  and  were 
straight,  it  will  be  seen  that,  if  both  phenomena 
were  of  the  same  class,  they  could  not  have  been 
due  to  meteor  streams. 

The  sun's  spots,  which  we  will  next  refer  to,  are 
deep,  relatively  dark,  but  in  fact  extremely  bright 
depressions  in  the  photosphere.  "  Many  spots  are  of 
enormous  size"  (see  article,  "  Sun") ;  "  one  had  a  di- 
ameter exceeding  fifty  thousand  miles,  and  many 
far  larger  than  this  have  been  seen.  The  spots  are 
not  scattered  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  sun, 
but  are  for  the  most  part  confined  to  two  belts  be- 
tween latitude  five  degrees  and  thirty  degrees,  on 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   57 

either   side   of  the  solar  equator.     An  equatorial 
zone  six  degrees  wide  is  almost  entirely  free  from 


A  typical  sun-spot.    (From  the  Popular  Science  Monthly,  1885.) 

spots.  .  .  .  The  inclination  of  the  solar  equator 
is  about  seven  degrees.  .  .  .  The  spots  on  the 
sun  usually  have  a  dark  central  region  called 


58       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

the  umbra,  within  which  is  a  still  darker  part 
called  the  nucleus,  while  around  this  there  is  a 
fringe  of  fainter  shade  than  the  umbra,  called  the 
penumbra.  Although  the  umbra  and  nucleus  ap- 
pear dark,  however,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
they  are  really  dark ;  .  .  .  though  the  nucleus  looks 
perfectly  black  by  contrast  with  the  general  surface, 
it  shines  in  reality  with  a  light  unbearably  brilliant 
when  viewed  alone,  while  his  thermal  measure- 
ments show  that  the  heat  from  the  nucleus  is  eveii 
greater  proportionately  than  the  light,  and  not  very, 
greatly  below  the  heat  of  the  surrounding  surfaced 
.  .  .  The  recognition  of  a  nucleus  within  the  umbra 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  a  third  cloud  layer 
(besides  the  outer  or  photosphere  and  a  darker 
cloud  iayer  beneath)  exists  within  the  second  or 
internal  layer  of  Herschel's  theory.  But  the  obser- 
vations of  Professor  Langley  show  that  most  proba- 
bly all  the  features  of  the  solar  photosphere  yet 
observed  are  phenomena  of  cloud  envelopes,  since 
he  has  been  able  to  recognize  cloud  forms  at  one 
level  floating  over  cloud  forms  at  a  lower  level, 
while  even  in  the  (relatively)  darkest  depths  of  the 
nucleus  clouds  are  still  to  be  perceived,  though  so 
deep  down  that  their  outlines  can  be  barely  dis- 
cerned." Professor  Ball  says  of  the  heat-wave  of 
1892,  "  As  to  the  activity  of  the  sun  during  the  past 
summer,  a  very  striking  communication  has  recently 
been  made  by  one  of  the  most  rising  American  as- 
tronomers, Mr.  George  E.  Hale,  of  Chicago.  He 
has  invented  an  ingenious  apparatus  for  photograph- 
ing on  the  same  plate  at  one  exposure  both  the 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   59 

bright  spots  and  the  protuberances  of  the  sun.  .  .  . 
On  the  15th  of  July  a  photograph  of  the  sun  showed 
a  large  spot.  Another  photograph  taken  in  a  few 
minutes  exhibited  a  bright  band;  twenty-seven 
minutes  later  a  further  exposure  displayed  an  out- 
burst of  brilliant  faculee  all  over  the  spot.  At  the 
end  of  an  hour  the  faculse  had  all  vanished  and 
the  spot  was  restored  to  its  original  condition.  It 
was  not  a  mere  coincidence  that  our  magnetic  ob- 
servatories exhibited  considerable  disturbances  the 
next  day,  and  that  brilliant  auroras  were  noted." 
Carrington's  observations  have  shown  that  spots  in 
different  solar  latitudes  travel  at  different  rates. 
"  Taking  two  parts  of  the  visible  solar  surface  in 
the  same  longitude,  but  one  in  latitude  forty-five 
degrees  (say),  the  other  on  the  equator,  the  latter 
will  advance  farther  and  farther  in  longitude  from 
the  former,  gaining  daily  about  two  degrees,  so  that 
in  the  course  of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  days  it 
will  have  gained  a  complete  revolution.  That  is  to 
say,  the  sun's  equator  makes  about  two  revolutions 
more  per  annum  than  regions  in  forty-five  degrees 
north  and  south  solar  latitude."  The  sun  is  about 
850,000  miles  in  diameter;  its  density  is  one-fourth 
that  of  the  earth ;  its  mass  is  316,000  times  greater, 
and  its  volume  1,253,000.  Gravity  at  its  surface  is 
27.1  times  that  of  the  earth ;  its  distance  is  approxi- 
mately 92,000,000  miles ;  it  rotates  upon  its  axis, 
which  is  inclined  to  the  planetary  plane  at  an  angle 
of  seven  degrees,  once  in  twenty-five  and  one-third 
days,  apparently  increased  to  thirty  days  by  the 
earth's  orbital  advance  in  the  same  direction 


60       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

around  the  sun;  and  it  has  a  motion  around  its 
center,- — a  true  orhital  motion, — due  to  displace- 
ment by  gravity  of  the  planetary  masses,  which, 
however,  is  always  within  its  own  mass. 


Structure  of  the  sun.— A,  solar  core,  or  nucleus :  B,  photosphere,  the  visible 
orb ;  C,  chromosphere,  or  sierra ;  D,  corona,  fading  off  into  space  ;  E,  sun's 
long  streamer ;  F,  over  faculse  in  C  and  B  ;  G,  direction  of  line  of  planetary 
energy  ;  H,  active  stage  of  a  sun-spot ;  I,  plume  prominence  ;  K,  jet  promi- 
nence ;  S,  direction  of  sun's  rotation. 

The  above,  in  brief,  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  the 
constitution  of  the  sun  and  its  appendages.  Its  in- 
ternal globe  is  surrounded  by  a  glowing  gaseous 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OP  THE  SUN.   61 

envelope,  the  photosphere,  which  is  the  visible  orb, 
composed  of  cloud  masses  of  glowing  hydrogen  gas 
intermingled  with  vapors  of  many  of  our  terrestrial 
elements,  all  in  a  state  of  apparent  disassociation. 
Of  the  constitution  of  the  sun's  mass,  Professor 
Ball  says,  "  Professor  Rowland  has  shown  that 
thirty-six  terrestrial  elements  are  certainly  indicated 
in  the  solar  spectrum,  while  eight  others  are  doubt- 
ful. Fifteen  elements  have  not  been  found,  though 
sought  for,  and  ten  elements  have  not  yet  been 
compared  with  the  sun's  spectrum.  Reasons  are 
also  given  for  showing  that,  though  fifteen  elements 
had  no  lines  corresponding  to  those  shown  in  the 
solar  spectrum,  yet  there  is  but  little  evidence  to 
show  that  they  are  really  absent  from  the  sun.  Dr. 
Huggins  epitomizes  these  very  interesting  results 
in  the  striking  remark,  i  It  follows  that  if  the  whole 
earth  were  heated  to  the  temperature  of  the  sun, 
its  spectrum  would  resemble  very  closely  the  solar 
spectrum.' ' '  Outside  the  photosphere  is  the  simpler 
chromosphere,  composed  largely  of  hydrogen,  and 
merging  into  the  corona  at  a  distance  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  miles  from  the  sun's  apparent  sur- 
face, and  this  corona  extends  outward  to  a  vast 
distance,  and  is  itself  largely  composed  of  self-lumi- 
nous matter,  the  action  of  gravity  being  counterbal- 
anced by  the  centrifugal  force  of  orbital  rotation, 
or  more  probably  by  electrical  repulsion.  The 
metallic  vapors  in  the  sun's  photosphere  are  sus- 
pended in  glowing  hydrogen,  which  vastly  pre- 
ponderates over  all  the  others  in  mass  and  volume, 
the  incandescence  of  which  is  the  principal  source 

6 


62      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  solar  light  and  heat.  The  planets  revolve  in 
elliptical  orbits  around  this  central  sun,  and  cross- 
ing these  orbits  at  various  angles  rush  streams  of 
cometic  matter  and  comets  and  meteoric  bodies,  in 
streams  and  clouds,  which,  swiftly  sweeping  around 
at  various  distances,  are  again  thrown  off  into  space. 
Meteors  constantly  fall  into  the  sun's  mass,  as  they 
do  upon  the  earth ;  but  the  grand  key-note  of  all 
his  life  and  energy,  so  far  as  we  can  perceive,  is  the 
vast  envelope  of  glowing  hydrogen  gas. 

Conversely,  the  planetary  envelopes  are  of  rela- 
tively cool  oxygen  mixed  with  nitrogen  gas,  which 
hold  in  suspension  diffused  aqueous  vapors.  If 
our  own  aqueous  vapors  are  derived  by  the  attrac- 
tion of  gravity  from  the  interplanetary  space,  as 
they  must  have  been,  we  can  be  sure  that,  were  the 
sun  at  a  sufficiently  low  temperature,  he,  too,  would 
gather  to  himself  a  surrounding  envelope  of  aqueous 
vapor,  larger  than  our  own  in  proportion  to  his 
mass,  and  larger  than  that  of  all  the  planets  to- 
gether, the  combined  mass  of  which  he  exceeds  by 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  times.  We  should  also 
expect  similar  aggregations  of  aqueous  vapors  to 
surround  all  the  fixed  stars  in  proportion  to  their 
various  masses,  yet  we  do  not  find  aqueous  vapor 
there,  but  hydrogen  instead.  And  in  the  distant 
telescopic  nebulae  we  still  find  hydrogen  and  nitro- 
gen ;  even  in  the  comets  we  find  free  hydrogen  in 
vast  predominance,  but  not  free  oxygen;  so  that 
we  may  roughly  divide  the  bodies  of  stellar  space 
into  two  grand  categories, — those  with  atmospheres 
of  hydrogen  and  those  with  atmospheres  of  oxygen. 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   63 

It  is  true  that  the  latter  are  limited  to  the  planets 
of  our  own  system,  so  far  as  direct  observation 
goes,  for  we  cannot  see  such  dark  planets  as  exist 
beyond  our  own  solar  system ;  but  if  such  planets 
exist,  as  they  must,  for  reasons  stated  later  on, 
and  revolve  around  their  own  central  suns,  we  may 
infer,  with  the  strength  of  demonstration  almost, 
that  if  their  suns  correspond  to  our  sun  in  this 
respect,  their  planets  will  correspond  to  our  planets 
in  a  similar  respect.  But  the  bodies  with  atmos- 
pheres of  oxygen  are  those  which  rotate  around  the 
sun  substantially  as  a  center,  while  with  reference 
to  themselves  the  sun  is  more  or  less  a  fixed  body 
in  space.  It  is  true  that  our  whole  system  is  drift- 
ing through  space,  at  present  in  the  direction  of  the 
constellation  Lyra,  and  directly  away  from  that 
portion  of  space  occupied  by  Sirius  and  Can  opus, 
with  an  annual  motion  of  probably  hundreds  of 
millions  of  miles.  Professor  Ball  ("  In  the  High 
Heavens")  says, "  In  conclusion,  it  would  seem  that 
the  sun  and  the  whole  solar  system  are  bound  on  a 
voyage  to  that  part  of  the  sky  which  is  marked  by 
the  star  Delta  Lyrse.  It  also  appears  that  the  speed 
with  which  this  motion  is  urged  is  such  as  to  bring 
us  every  day  about  700,000  miles  nearer  to  this  part 
of  the  sky.  In  one  year  the  solar  system  accom- 
plishes ajourney  of  no  less  than  250,000,000  miles." 
A  speed  of  eight  miles  per  second  gives  an  annual 
rate  of  252,288,000  miles.  This  speed,  however,  is 
greatly  exceeded  by  many  stars  (as  determined  by 
displacement  of  the  lines  of  the  spectrum) ;  the  star 
No.  1830,  of  Groombridge's  catalogue  (see  "  In  the 


64      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

High  Heavens"),  has  a  rate  of  two  hundred  miles 
per  second.  The  author  says,  "  Indeed,  in  some  cases 
stellar  velocities  are  attained  which  appear  to  be 
even  greater  than  that  just  mentioned.  We  do  not, 
therefore,  make  any  extravagant  supposition  in 
adopting  a  speed  of  twenty  miles  per  second," 
which  he  takes  as  the  average.  "  I  have  adopted 
this  particular  velocity  as  fairly  typical  of  sidereal 
motions  generally.  It  is  rather  larger  than  the 
speed  with  which  the  earth  moves  in  its  orbit." 
The  distances,  of  course,  are  equally  enormous.  This 
author  says,  "  The  nearest  star,  as  far  as  we  yet 
know,  in  the  northern  hemisphere  is  61  Cygni. 
...  I  think  we  cannot  be  far  wrong  in  adopting 
a  value  of  fifty  millions  of  millions  of  miles.  .  .  . 
In  the  course  of  a  million  years  a  star  with  the 
average  speed  of  twenty  miles  a  second  would  move 
over  a  distance  which  was  about  a  dozen  times  as 
great  as  the  distance  between  61  Cygni  and  the 
solar  system."  This  assuming  that  the  solar  sys- 
tem is  at  rest,  which  is  not  the  case,  as  the  author 
says,  "  Unless  binary,  stars  do  not  remain  in  prox- 
imity, so  far  as  we  know ;  the  general  rule  appears 
to  be  that  of  universal  movement  through  space." 
This  drift  through  space,  however,  no  more  affects 
the  terms  of  the  problem  than  the  rotation  of  the 
earth  upon  its  axis  or  its  orbital  motion  affects  the 
operations  of  an  electric  machine  as  the  handle  may 
be  rotated  to  or  from  the  direction  of  these  mo- 
tions. Both  machine  and  reservoir  of  energy 
occupying  a  fixed  relation  with  reference  to  each 
other,  the  positions  of  each  are  the  same  as  though 


CONSTITUTION  AND   PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.   65 

absolutely  fixed.  This  is  true  of  gravitation,  like- 
wise, as  well  as  of  all  other  natural  and  universal 
forces. 

The  fact  established,  then,  that  attenuated  aque- 
ous vapor  is  diffused  throughout  the  interplanetary 
space  occupied  by  our  own  solar  system,  and  that 
it  tends  to  surround  our  sun  and  planetary  bodies 
with  aqueous  envelopes  of  increased  density,  pro- 
portionate to  the  action  of  gravity,  the  question 
arises,  Is  there  any  known  force  which  will  act 
through  such  interplanetary  space  to  decompose 
such  aqueous  vapor  into  its  constituent  elements 
and  deposit  hydrogen  gas  around  the  sun  and  oxy- 
gen gas  around  the  planets,  and  which,  while  main- 
taining a  planetary  temperature  such  as  we  find  on 
the  planets,  will  at  the  same  time  raise  the  hydro- 
gen envelope  of  the  sun  to  such  a  temperature  of 
incandescence  that  it  will  become  a  glowing  sphere 
of  heated  hydrogen,  in  which  other  constituents  of 
the  sun's  mass  will  be  raised  to  incandescence  and 
partially  volatilized  in  the  intense  heat  of  that  in- 
candescent gas;  in  which,  in  fact,  the  phenomena 
of  the  sun  will  become  manifest?  If  so,  two 
vastly  important  corollaries  are  inevitable :  first, 
that  the  fixed  stars,  which  also  shine  with  the  light 
of  their  own  glowing  hydrogen,  are  themselves 
surrounded  by  a  similar  aqueous  vapor,  diffused 
through  their  own  adjacent  space,  and  that,  in 
consequence,  not  only  our  own  planetary  distances, 
but  all  interstellar  space,  as  far  as  the  utmost  dis- 
tance of  the  faintest  fixed  stars,  is  likewise  per- 
vaded by  the  same  attenuated  aqueous  vapor,  and 
e  6* 


66       SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

that  this  is  the  grand  source  from  which  is  derived 
all  solar  energy,  not  only  of  our  own  sun,  but  of 
all  the  other  flaming  orbs  of  space ;  and,  second, 
which  is  still  more  important  to  us  as  citizens  of 
the  universe,  that  each  flaming  hydrogen  sun  must 
have  surrounding  it  a  correlative  dark  planetary 
system  of  its  own,  and  that  the  complement  of 
glowing  hydrogen,  as  an  incandescent  envelope  of 
the  central  orb,  necessitates  the  corresponding  sup- 
plement of  cool  oxygen  as  an  envelope  for  each  of 
such  planetary  bodies ;  in  other  words,  that  with- 
out such  planets  as  our  system  possesses,  there  can 
be  no  suns  such  as  our  own  and  the  other  suns  we 
see.  Vast  orbs  might  be  conceived  of  as  rotating 
in  eternal  darkness  without  associated  satellites,  but 
the  incandescent  atmosphere  of  hydrogen  must 
have — not  may  have,  but  must  have — subordinate 
planets  substantially  similar  to  ours,  surrounded 
by  atmospheres  substantially  similar  to  our  own 
(for  we  find  free  nitrogen  in  comets,  in  meteorites, 
and  in  the  faintest  nebulae),  and  these  planets  are 
thus  fitted,  so  far  as  we  can  know,  for  the  support 
of  organic  life  and  for  the  same  orderly  courses  of 
nature  as  we  see  manifest  around  us.  They  must 
be  cool,  for  at  the  planetary  poles  there  must  be  a 
moderate  temperature  in  contrast  with  the  solar 
pole,  which  becomes,  of  necessity,  highly  heated ; 
they  must  have  an  atmosphere  of  oxygen  in  order 
that  the  solar  center  may  have  an  atmosphere  of 
hydrogen;  these  planetary  atmospheres  must  be 
supplied  with  nitrogen,  because  nitrogen  is  univer- 
sally available,  and  similar  causes  operating  under 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA    OF  THE  SUN.    67 

similar  circumstances  will  produce  like  effects ; 
these  atmospheres  must  be  charged  with  condensed 
aqueous  vapors,  and,  if  cool  enough,  must  have 
deposited  water  in  liquid  form,  for  aqueous  vapors 
when  condensed  by  gravity  are  the  correlated 
sources  of  supply  of  their  respective  gaseous  compo- 
nents at  both  solar  and  planetary  poles ;  and  these 
planets  must  rotate  in  orderly  periods  around  their 
central  suns,  or  the  aqueous  vapors  cannot  be  regu- 
larly and  continuously  disassociated  into  their  ele- 
mental gases.  These  planets  may  be  few  or  many — 
perhaps  even  a  single  one  sometimes — for  each  sun, 
but  they  must  be  large  enough  or  numerous  enough 
to  operate  by  their  aggregate  mass,  so  as  to  disas- 
sociate around  the  planets  as  much  oxygen  as  their 
central  sun  disassociates  of  hydrogen  in  their  com- 
bining proportions, — that  is,  two  volumes  of  hy- 
drogen for  each  one  of  oxygen.  We  will  there- 
fore find  in  such  planets  all  the  potentialities  of 
life — we  can  see  and  study  these  planets,  though 
physically  invisible,  as  easily  and  as  thoroughly  as 
we  do  our  own,  for  having  the  relationship  of  con- 
stitution between  our  own  planets  and  our  sun,  we 
may  thereby  learn  the  essential  relationship  be- 
tween any  fixed  star  and  its  planets  by  directly 
studying  the  constitution  of  such  star  alone. 
Among  the  planets  of  our  own  system  Neptune 
and  Mercury,  and  those  which  exist  adjacent  to 
their  boundaries,  can  be  studied  with  difficulty  and 
uncertainty;  but  what  astronomer  doubts  that  they 
are  constituted  much  like  the  other  planets^  and 
have  passed,  or  will  pass,  through  such  stages  of 


68       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

progress  as  we  find  apparent  among  those  more, 
directly  under  our  observation  ?  While  we  shall 
thus  find  universality  and  harmony  among  all  the 
starry  systems,  we  shall  not  find  identity ;  but  with 
the  guiding  light  of  demonstrated  scientific  princi- 
ples, we  may  apply  our  knowledge  as  a  key  to  un- 
lock the  mysteries  of  the  most  distant  stars.  The 
Milky  Way  will  gleam  with  new  meaning,  Sirius, 
Aldebaran,  the  Pleiades,  will  send  us  messages  of 
fellowship,  and  the  established  sphere  of  creative 
energy  will  have  expanded,  with  all  its  wondrous 
mechanism,  to  fill  the  universe.  When  we  see  at 
night  a  vast  factory  building  with  every  window 
lighted,  one  who  understands  the  operation  and 
mechanism  essential  to  the  work  of  a  mill  sees  not 
alone  the  illuminated  windows,  but  the  looms  in 
motion,  the  flying  shuttles,  the  spindles  humming, 
the  wheels  turning,  and  all  the  complicated  ma- 
chinery in  active  operation.  And  he  can  even  pict- 
ure operatives  at  work  in  their  various  avocations, 
and  the  flashing  windows,  though  themselves  silent, 
are  the  visible  index  of  the  light  within  which 
illuminates  and  makes  possible  the  work  there  per- 
formed. And  so,  when  thus  comprehended,  the 
flaming  stars,  but  points  of  light  in  the  archways 
of  the  sky,  themselves  will  reveal  to  us  the  won- 
drous workings  within  the  realm  which  they  illumi- 
nate and  warm  and  vivify.  We  may  also  reasonably 
infer,  as  will  be  more  fully  explained  further  on, 
that  there  can  be  no  actual  basis  for  the  opinion 
sometimes  expressed,  that  great,  dark,  solid  orbs 
— independent  worlds,  in  fact — are  drifting  about 


CONSTITUTION  AND  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  SUN.    69 

through  space  at  random,  as  it  were,  like  homeless 
vagabonds.  In  these  sparsely-occupied  domains 
the  head  of  each  household,  as  in  every  well-regu- 
lated family,  has  all  its  different  members  gathered 
around  in  strict  subordination,  to  aid  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  establishment.  "No  sun  no  planets; 
no  planets  no  sun,  is  the  general  statement  of  the 
sidereal  formula.  Like  a  sexual  duality,  the  mu- 
tually correlated  parts  constitute  a  single,  com- 
posite, and  interdependent  whole :  one  generates, 
concentrates,  and  transmits;  the  other  receives, 
transforms,  and  delivers. 

NOTE.— Regarding  the  absence  of  oxygen  from  the  sun's  atmosphere  we 
quote  the  following  from  Lord  Salisbury's  very  recent  address  (see  note  at  end 
of  Chapter  I.) :  "  It  is  a  great  aggravation  of  the  mystery  which  surrounds  the 
question  of  the  elements,  that,  among  the  lines  which  are  absent  from  the 
spectrum  of  the  sun,  those  of  nitrogen  and  oxygen  stand  first.  Oxygen  con- 
stitutes the  largest  portion  of  the  solid  and  liquid  substances  of  our  planet, 
so  far  as  we  know  it ;  and  nitrogen  is  very  far  the  predominant  constituent 
of  our  atmosphere.  If  the  earth  is  a  detached  bit  whirled  off  the  mass  of 
the  sun,  as  cosmogonists  love  to  tell  us,  how  comes  it  that  in  leaving  the 
sun  we  cleaned  him  out  so  completely  of  his  nitrogen  and  oxygen  that  not 
a  trace  of  these  gases  remains  behind  to  be  discovered  even  by  the  sensitive 
vision  of  the  spectroscope?"  We  shall  find  that  the  absence  of  oxygen  in 
the  solar  envelope  is  a  necessary  corollary  of  its  presence  in  those  of  the 
planets.  The  same  is  true,  possibly,  of  nitrogen.  Ammoniacal  vapors  are 
decomposable  into  hydrogen  and  nitrogen,  and  hydrocarbon  gases  into  hy- 
drogen and  carbon,  just  as  aqueous  vapors  are  resolvable  into  hydrogen  and 
oxygen.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  earth's  development  we  have  abundant 
evidence  of  an  atmosphere  heavily  laden  with  carbonic  vapors,  which  have 
disappeared,  to  remain  stored  as  fixed  carbon,  and  the  oxygen  has  also  largely 
disappeared,  to  constitute  the  enormous  mass  of  oxides  in  the  earth's  mass, 
while  the  nitrogen  remains  to  dilute  the  remaining  oxygen  and  constitute 
the  air  we  breathe.  Their  common  correlative,  hydrogen,  intermingled  with 
metallic  vapors,  composes  the  vast  atmosphere  of  the  sun. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   MODE    OF    SOLAR    ENERGY. 

BUT  is  there  such  an  available  force  ?  There  is 
one,  and  only  one, — electricity,  when  properly  gen- 
erated and  suitably  applied.  It  is  an  axiom  of 
electrical  science  that  any  fluid  which  will  at  all 
conduct  a  current  of  electricity  can  be  decomposed 
by  a  current  of  electricity.  (See  Urbanitsky's  work, 
"  Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man,"  CasselPs  edi- 
tion, page  154.)  It  is  there  stated  (page  152),  "  We 
have  frequently  had  occasion  to  mention  certain 
chemical  effects  of  electricity, — namely,  the  de- 
composition of  gaseous  compounds  into  simple 
gases."  Page  157,  "  Whatever  the  substances  we 
expose  to  the  action  of  the  galvanic  current,  de- 
composition takes  place  proportional  to  the  strength 
of  the  current."  Page  152,  "  Hydrogen  is  always 
evolved  at  the  negative  pole  of  the  battery  and 
oxygen  at  the  positive  pole.  The  gases  can  then 
be  collected  in  different  tubes,  the  hydrogen  tube 
receiving  twice  as  much  gas  as  the  oxygen  tube ; 
since  water  consists  of  two  volumes  of  hydrogen 
and  one  volume  of  oxygen,  it  follows  that  the  gal- 
vanic current  decomposes  water  into  its  constitu- 
ents. As  chemically  pure  water  has  so  great  a 
resistance  as  almost  to  force  us  to  consider  it  a  non- 
conductor, it  is  generally  acidulated  with  sulphuric 
acid.  The  smallest  amount  of  acid  diminishes  the 
70 


THE  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  71 

resistance  considerably.  The  silent  discharge  is 
far  more  effective  in  bringing  about  this  trans- 
formation than  the  spark  discharge."  Page  37, 
"  Gases  are  bad  conductors  of  electricity;  if  it  had 
been  otherwise,  we  should  never  have  become  ac- 
quainted with  electricity,  as  it  would  have  been 
conducted  away  by  the  air  as  fast  as  it  was  gen- 
erated. The  vacuum  also  does  not  conduct  elec- 
tricity, but  moist  air  becomes  a  partial  conductor. 
Moist  air  also  will  spoil  the  insulation  of  non-con- 
ducting supports.  All  bodies  are  more  or  less 
hygroscopic,  and  the  moisture  condensed  on  their 
surfaces  thus  turns  the  best  insulators  into  conductors. 
Change  of  temperature  also  influences  conduc- 
tivity." Page  63,  "When  using  induction  ma- 
chines, the  moisture  of  the  air  often  causes  experi- 
ments to  fail,  especially  before  large  audiences. 
The  atmosphere  becomes  saturated  with  moisture, 
and  it  is  often  impossible  to  get  the  machine  in 
working  order."  Several  desiccating  devices  are 
mentioned  by  the  authors  of  this  work,  as  used 
with  such  machines,  to  prevent  such  dissipation  or 
conduction  of  electricity  from  the  machine  into 
space  by  the  aqueous  vapor  of  the  atmosphere.  In 
describing  the  aurora  borealis  (page  93),  these  au- 
thors say,  "  The  rarefied  air  is  nearer  the  earth  at 
the  poles  than  the  equator,  in  consequence  of  the 
earth's  centrifugal  motion,  and,  the  earth  being 
negatively  electrified,  negative  electricity  will  flow 
from  this  point,  directed  against  the  positively  elec- 
trified upper  layers  of  rarefied  air."  Same  work, 
pages  127,  128,  "  The  resistance  (in  liquids)  dimin- 


72       SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ishes  as  the  temperature  increases,  a  result  which 
is  exactly  opposite  to  what  occurs  with  metals. 
Conductivity  for  carbon  increases  with  the  temper- 
ature, thus  agreeing  with  the  action  of  liquids." 
Page  133,  "  To  determine  the  resistance  in  liquids, 
the  above  methods  cannot  be  employed,  liquids 
being  decomposed  by  the  electrical  current."  Re- 
ferring to  the  voltaic  arc  and  the  spark  of  the  in- 
duction apparatus  (page  200),  it  is  said,  "  Dry  air 
under  great  pressure  offers  a  high  resistance,  but  a 
perfect  vacuum  is  a  perfect  insulator,  and  between 
these  extremes  there  are  degrees  of  rarification 
which  admit  of  a  flow  of  electricity."  In  general, 
it  is  said  that  electrical  decomposition  requires  that 
the  electrolyte  be  in  liquid  form,  but  this  is  not 
universally  true,  and  throughout  interplanetary 
space  may  not  be  true  at  all.  In  Ferguson's  work 
on  Electricity,  it  is  stated  that,  "  The  passage  of 
electricity  through  compound  gases  in  a  state  of 
great  rarity,  as  in  the  so-called  vacuum  tubes,  fre- 
quently separates  them  up  into  their  constituents." 
So,  also, '  the  opinion  that  electricity  cannot  be 
readily  conducted  through  dry  gases  is  refuted  by 
the  play  of  the  auroral  streamers.  The  distance 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth  of  these  electrical 
waves  and  the  auroral  arch  is  variously  estimated 
at  from  seventy  to  two  hundred  and  sixty-five 
miles,  and  in  one  instance  "  at  a  height  of  from 
four  thousand  to  six  thousand  miles ;"  see  article 
in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia.  Certainly  there  could 
be  no  sensible  moisture  at  the  temperatures  there 
prevalent,  and  especially  at  night  and  during  the 


THE  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  73 

fall  and  winter  months  when  these  displays  are 
very  frequent.  Whether  the  currents  he  due  to 
induction,  as  hetween  neighboring  bodies  one  of 
which  is  electrified,  or  from  direct  emission,  as  in 
brush  discharges,  there  must  obviously  be  some 
medium  of  contact  and  continuity  for  the  free 
transference  of  electrical  energy  through  space. 
Regarding  the  rationale  of  electrolysis  ("  Electricity 
in  the  Service  of  Man"),  after  discussing  certain 
other  theories,  the  authors  say,  "  Clausius,  too, 
assumes  an  electrified  condition  of  the  molecules  of 
each  electrode,  but  he  neither  attributes  to  the  gal- 
vanic current  the  force  of  direction  nor  power  of 
decomposing.  He  points  out  that  both  the  mole- 
cules of  fluids  and  also  their  atoms  are  in  continual 
motion.  The  atoms  in  molecules  of  fluids  are  held 
together  but  by  a  moderate  force,  and  the  mole- 
cules themselves  constantly  undergo  changes  both 
of  synthesis  and  analysis.  The  galvanic  current 
merely  effects  a  regulated  motion  of  the  atoms ; 
the  positive  ions  are  attracted  by  the  negative  elec- 
trode, and  the  negative  ions  by  the  positive  elec- 
trode, and  by  this  means  are  separated  out  from 
the  liquid."  Page  91,  "  The  upper  layers  of  air 
are  more  or  less  electrified,  so  as  to  have  a  poten- 
tial differing  from  that  of  the  earth,  but  how  their 
electrical  condition  has  been  produced  is  not  at  present 
known.  Condensation  of  water-vapor  is  supposed 
to  produce  electricity.  Close  to  the  earth  the  air 
has  little  or  no  electricity;  the  farther  from  the 
earth  the  greater  the  amount  of  electricity  in  the 
air."  Referring  to  the  sparking  discharge,  it  is 
D  7 


74       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

said,  page  75,  "  The  density  of  the  air,  however, 
has  to  be  taken  into  account;  the  sparking  dis- 
tance is  lessened  in  denser  air,  and  becomes  greater 
when  the  atmospheric  pressure  is  diminished.  Not 
only  the  density,  but  also  the  chemical  composition 
of  the  medium  influences  the  sparking  distance. 
Faraday  found  the  distances  considerably  less  in 
chlorine  gas,  but  twice  as  long  in  hydrogen  gas  as  in 
air."  Page  74,  "  The  sparking  distance  increases 
at  a  somewhat  greater  rate,  than  the  difference  of 
potential  of  the  discharging  bodies.  .  .  .  When  the 
sparking  distance  becomes  very  great  ...  it  is 
proportional  to  the  difference  of  potential."  Page 
91,  "  There  is  a  difference  of  potential  between  the 
earth  and  points  in  the  air  above.  In  fine  weather 
the  potential  is  higher  the  higher  we  go,  increasing 
usually  at  the  rate  of  twenty  to  forty  volts  for  each 
foot." 

It  will  be  seen  that,  continued  upward  at  this  rate, 
the  increased  electrical  pressure  for  each  mile  of  ele- 
vation would  be  between  100,000  and  200,000  volts, 
or  for  each  one  hundred  miles  more  than  10,000,000 
volts ;  and  at  an  altitude  of  one  thousand  miles,  if 
carried  so  far,  the  potential  would  be  between  one 
and  two  hundred  million  volts,  an  electrical  press- 
ure quite  inconceivable  to  us.  Such  a  potential  in 
currents  of  enormous  quantity  continually  flowing 
from  the  earth  to  the  sun  would  certainly  decom- 
pose any  aqueous  vapors  condensed  around  these 
bodies.  But  the  question  at  once  arises,  What  rea- 
son is  there  to  suppose  that  such  currents  could 
possibly  flow  between  the  earth  and  the  sun,  across 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  75 

that  vast  intervening  region  of  space,  a  distance  of 
more  than  90,000,000  miles  ?  And  would  not  the 
resistance  to  such  currents  in  transit  be  so  enor- 
mous that  the  entire  potential,  however  great,  would 
have  been  practically  lost  long  before  reaching  the 
sun  ?  To  this  there  is  a  complete  and  irrefutable 
answer,  not  based  upon  any  abstract  theory,  but 
upon  established  fact.  It  is  an  absolute  certainty 
that  electrical  currents  of  enormous  quantity  and 
high  potential  are  constantly  passing  between  the 
earth  and  the  sun,  and  that  these  currents  have 
so  free  a  passage — far  more  free  than  through  any 
metallic  circuits  that  we  know  of— that  they  pass 
over  this  enormous  distance  absolutely  without 
appreciable  resistance.  "We  may  note  in  this  con- 
nection the  well-known  facts,  now  being  largely  util- 
ized, though  the  art  is  still  in  its  infancy,  of  tele- 
graphing and  transmitting  all  sorts  of  electrical 
currents  over  large  distances  without  wires  or  any 
conductors,  except  those  furnished  by  nature. 

Of  the  currents  between  the  earth  and  the  sun, 
Professor  Proctor,  in  his  "  Light  Science  for  Leisure 
Hours,"  says,  "  Remembering  the  influence  which 
the  sun  has  been  found  to  exercise  upon  the  mag- 
netic needle,  the  question  will  naturally  arise,  Has 
the  sun  anything  to  do  with  magnetic  storms? 
We  have  clear  evidence  that  he  has.  On  the  1st 
of  September,  1859,  Messrs.  Carrington  and  Hodg- 
son were  observing  the  sun,  one  at  Oxford  and  the 
other  in  London.  Their  scrutiny  was  directed  to 
certain  large  spots  which  at  that  time  marked  the 
sun's  face.  Suddenly  a  bright  light  was  seen  by 


76       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

each  observer  to  break  out  on  the  sun's  surface  and 
to  travel, 'slowly  in  appearance,  but  in  reality  at  the 
rate  of  about  seven  thousand  miles  in  a  minute, 
across  a  part  of  the  solar  disk.  Now,  it  was  found 
afterwards  that  the  self-registering  magnetic  instru- 
ments at  Kew  had  made  at  that  very  instant  a  strongly- 
marked  jerk.  It  was  learned  that  at  that  moment 
a  magnetic  storm  prevailed  in  the  West  Indies,  in 
South  America,  and  in  Australia.  The  signal  men 
in  the  telegraph  stations  at  Washington  and  Phila- 
delphia received  strong  electric  shocks;  the  pen 
of  Bain's  telegraph  was  followed  by  a  flame  of 
fire ;  and  in  Norway  the  telegraphic  machinery  was 
set  on  fire.  At  night  great  auroras  were  seen  in 
both  hemispheres.  It  is  impossible  not  to  connect 
these  startling  magnetic  indications  with  the  re- 
markable appearance  observed  upon  the  sun's  disk. 
But  there  is  other  evidence.  Magnetic  storms  pre- 
vail more  commonly  in  some  years  than  in  others. 
In  those  years  in  which  they  occur  most  frequently  it 
is  found  that  the  ordinary  oscillations  of  the  mag- 
netic needle  are  more  extensive  than  usual.  Now, 
when  these  peculiarities  had  been  noticed  for  many 
years,  it  was  found  that  there  was  an  alternate  and 
systematic  increase  and  diminution  in  intensity  of 
magnetic  action,  and  that  the  period  of  the  va- 
riation was  about  eleven  years.  But  at  the  same 
time  a  diligent  observer  had  been  recording  the 
appearance  of  the  sun's  face  from  day  to  day  and 
from  year  to  year.  He  had  found  that  the  solar 
spots  are  in  some  years  more  freely  displayed  than 
in  others,  and  he  had  determined  the  period  in 


THE  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  77 

which  the  spots  had  successively  presented  with 
maximum  frequency  to  be  about  eleven  years.  On 
a  comparison  of  the  two  sets  of  observations  it  was 
found  (and  has  now  been  placed  beyond  a  doubt 
by  many  years  of  continual  observation)  that  mag- 
netic perturbations  are  most  energetic  when  the  sun 
is  most  spotted,  and  vice  versa.  For  so  remarkable  a 
phenomenon  as  this  none  but  a  cosmical  cause  can 
suffice.  We  can  neither  say  that  the  spots  cause 
the  magnetic  storms  nor  that  the  magnetic  storms 
cause  the  spots.  We  must  seek  for  a  cause  pro- 
ducing at  once  both  sets  of  phenomena."  It  will 
be  observed  that  the  phenomena  seen  in  the  sun 
were  marked  at  the  same  instant  by  violent  electric 
perturbations  on  earth.  Hence  something  must 
have  passed  with  the  velocity  of  light,  which  we 
know  to  be  at  the  rate  of  188,000  miles  per  second, 
or  in  about  eight  minutes  from  the  sun  to  the  earth. 
But  it  is  stated  in  "  Electricity  in  the  Service  of 
Man,"  page  82,  that,  "  According  to  the  theoretical 
calculations  of  Kirchhoff,  as  well  as  of  Ayrton  and 
Perry,  the  velocity  of  electricity  in  a  wire  without 
resistance  would  be  equal  to  the  velocity  of  light."  Hence 
we  perceive  that  the  apparent  difficulty  has  van- 
ished in  the  light  of  observed  fact,  and  that  cur- 
rents of  electricity  do  pass  and  are  constantly  pass- 
ing between  the  earth  and  the  sun  without  the 
slightest  loss  of  speed, — that  is  to  say,  without  resist- 
ance. We  shall  find  in  the  sequel  that  the  above 
phenomena  were  caused  most  probably  by  a  par- 
tial interruption  of  a  constant  direct  current  from 
the  earth  to  the  sun,  instead  of  by  an  opposite  re- 

7* 


78       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

turn  current  from  the  sun  to  the  earth.  In  further 
illustration  of  the  above  facts  we -quote  the  follow- 
ing, page  172,  "  Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man :" 
"  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  find  a  connec- 
tion between  the  spots  and  prominences  in  the  sun 
and  the  electrical  phenomena  on  the  earth.  Pro- 
fessor Forster  says  that  by  numerous  magnetic  ob- 
servations of  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years  it  has 
been  proved  that  the  formation  of  black  spots  on 
the  surface  of  the  sun,  and  the  generation  of  pil- 
lars and  clouds  of  glowing  gases  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  sun,  stand  in  close  connection 
with  certain  deviations  in  direction  and  intensity  of 
the  earth's  magnetic  forces."  Professor  Proctor,  in 
his  "  Light  Science  for  Leisure  Hours,"  says,  "From 
all  this  it  appears,  incontestably,  that  there  is  an  in- 
timate connection  between  the  causes  of  auroras  and 
those  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  .  .  .  The  magnetic 
needle  not  only  swayed  responsively  to  auroras  ob- 
servable in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  but  to 
auroras  in  progress  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
miles  away.  Nay,  as  inquiry  progressed,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  needles  in  our  northern  obser- 
vatories are  swayed  by  influences  associated  even 
with  the  occurrence  of  auroras  around  the  southern 
polar  regions.  .  .  .  Could  we  only  associate  auroras 
with  terrestrial  magnetism,  we  should  still  have 
done  much  to  enhance  the  interest  which  the  beau- 
tiful phenomenon  is  calculated  to  excite.  But 
when  once  this  association  has  been  established, 
others  of  even  greater  interest  are  brought  into 
recognition ;  for  terrestrial  magnetism  has  been 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  79 

clearly  shown  to  be  influenced  directly  by  the  action 
of  the  sun.  .  .  .  We  already  begin  to  see,  then,  that 
auroras  are  associated  in  some  mysterious  way  with 
the  action  of  the  solar  rays.  The  phenomenon 
which  had  been  looked  on  for  so  many  ages  as  a 
mere  spectacle,  caused  perhaps  by  some  process  in 
the  upper  regions  of  the  air  of  a  simple  local  char- 
acter, has  been  brought  into  the  range  of  planetary 
phenomena.  As  surely  as  the  brilliant  planets 
which  deck  the  nocturnal  skies  are  illuminated  by 
the  same  orb  which  gives  us  our  days  and  seasons, 
so  are  they  subject  to  the  same  mysterious  influence 
which  causes  the  northern  banners  to  wave  respon- 
dently  over  the  starlit  depths  of  heaven.  Nay,  it  is 
even  probable  that  every  flicker  and  coruscation  of 
our  auroral  displays  correspond  with  similar  mani- 
festations ,  upon  every  planet  which  travels  round 
the  sun."  In  Professor  Ball's  late  work,  "  In  the 
High  Heavens,"  the  author  says,  "Dr.  Schuster 
suggests  that  there  may  be  an  electric  connection 
between  the  sun  and  the  planets.  In  fact,  with 
some  limitations,  we  might  even  assert  that  there 
must  be  such  a  connection.  It  is  well  known  that 
great  outbreaks  on  the  sun  have  been  immediately 
followed,  I  might  almost  say  accompanied,  by  re- 
markable magnetic  disturbances  on  the  earth.  The 
instances  that  are  recorded  of  this  connection  are 
altogether  too  remarkable  to  be  set  aside  as  mere 
coincidences.  Dr.  Huggins  has  not  referred  in  this 
connection  to  Hertz's  astonishing  discoveries ;  but 
it  seems  quite  possible  that  research  along  this  line 
may  throw  light  on  the  subject,  at  present  so  obscure. 


80       SOURCE  AND   MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  the  electric  relation  between  the  sun  and  the 
earth."  Of  this  common  electrical  relationship  be- 
tween our  sun  and  the  different  planets,  and  of 
these  with  each  other,  Professor  Proctor  says,  in  his 
article,  "Terrestrial  Magnetism,"  "Interesting  as 
are  the  bonds  of  union  which  Copernicus  and  Kep- 
ler and  Newton  have  traced  in  the  relations  of  our 
system,  it  would  seem  as  though  we  were  approaching 
the  traces  of  a  yet  more  wonderful  law  of  association. 
We  see  the  earth's  magnetism  responding  to  the 
solar  influences,  not  merely  in  those  rhythmic  mo- 
tions which  belong  to  the  periodic  variations,  but 
in  sudden  thrills  affecting  the  whole  framework  of 
our  globe.  The  magnetic  storms  which  are  called 
into  action  by  such  solar  disturbances  as  the  one 
of  September,  1859,  are,  we  may  feel  sure,  not 
peculiar  to  our  own  earth.  The  other  planets  feel 
the  same  influence, — not,  perhaps,  in  exactly  the 
same  way,  but  according  to  the  constitution  and 
physical  habitudes  which  respectively  belong  to 
them.  So  that  one  can  scarce  conceive  a  subject  of 
study  at  once  more  promising  and  more  interest- 
ing." Of  these  prophetic  shadows  which  science 
often  seems  to  cast  before,  Professor  Nichol,  in  his 
"  Architecture  of  the  Heavens"  (referring  to  Sir 
William  Herschel),  says,  "  Without  difficulty  or 
pretence  he  there  casts  aside  an  idea  which  had  not 
been  questioned  before,  unless  in  a  few  of  those 
obscure,  indefinite  speculations  which,  strangely 
enough,  often  prelude  important  discoveries."  These 
facts  are  thus  incontestably  established :  that  elec- 
tric currents  of  enormous  energy  and  vast  quantity 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  81 

are  constantly  passing  without  appreciable  resist- 
ance and  with  the  speed  of  light  between  the  earth 
and  the  sun;  that  such  currents  cannot  be  con- 
ducted through  vacua,  or  through  dry  gases,  or 
through  a  dense  medium ;  and  that,  whatever  other 
matter  may  exist  in  the  intervening  space,  such 
space  is  pervaded  throughout  by  an  attenuated 
vapor  of  such  constitution  and  density  that  it  will 
transmit  such  electrical  currents  with  the  highest 
conceivable  efficiency.  We  know  that  such  passage 
of  these  currents  cannot  depend  upon  the  ether  of 
space  which  is  acted  upon  by  the  sun  to  produce 
the  ethereal  undulatory  vibrations  of  light  and 
heat,  for,  after  we  have  produced  the  most  perfect 
vacuum  possible,  we  find  that  the  rays  of  light  con- 
tinue to  pass  through  it  as  freely  as  they  pass 
through  space,  while  currents  of  electricity  cannot 
be  made  to  pass  at  all.  Hence  we  know  to  a  cer- 
tainty that  the  medium  which  transmits  these  enor- 
mous currents  of  electricity  must  be  a  vapor  capa- 
ble of  conducting  electricity,  that  it  must  hence  be 
decomposable  by  the  electric  current,  and  that  when 
decomposed  one  of  its  elements  must  consist  of 
hydrogen  gas  and  the  other  of  oxygen;  in  other 
words,  that  this  conducting  medium  must  consist 
of  attenuated  aqueous  vapor,  commingled  doubtless 
with  other  vapors  which  themselves,  like  the  acid 
of  the  acidulated  water  used  in  electrolysis,  aid  in 
the  conduction  of  these  enormous  currents.  We 
also  know  that  such  vapors  in  space  will  be  neces- 
sarily attracted,  by  gravitation,  around  the  solar  and 
planetary  bodies  immersed  therein,  and  must  form 


82       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

condensed  vaporous  atmospheres  or  cloud  masses, 
and  if  these  are  decomposed  by  the  passage  of  such 
currents  of  electricity,  that  hydrogen  gas  will  be 
liberated  at  the  solar  galvanic  pole  and  oxygen  at 
the  terrestrial  or  other  planetary  pole,  precisely  as 
we  find  to  be  the  case  in  nature.  Will  such  gaseous 
envelopes,  then,  have  the  same  temperature  for 
each  gas  when  thus  liberated,  or  will  the  hydrogen 
envelope  of  the  sun  be  heated  to  incandescence, 
due  to  the  passage  of  the  electrical  current  ? 


Electrical  polarities  of  sun  and  planets.    A,  body  of  the  planet ;  B,  planet- 
ary electrosphere ;  C,  body  of  the  sun ;  D,  solar  electrosphere. 

The  temperature  of  interplanetary  space  is  prob- 
ably very  low.  Of  this  Professor  Ball  says,  "  What 
this  may  be  is  a  matter  of  some  uncertainty,  but  from 
all  the  evidence  available  it  seems  plain  that  we 
may  put  it  at  not  less  than  three  hundred  degrees 
below  zero;"  and  the  same  author  adds,  "  The 
temperature  is  taken  to  be  sixty-four  degrees  below 
zero,  being  presumably  that  at  the  confines  of  the 
atmosphere."  Whatever  the  temperature  of  space, 
or  its  variations,  may  be,  the  passage  of  the  plan- 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  83 

etary  electricity  through  the  condensed  hydrogen 
envelope  of  the  sun  will  produce  great  changes  in 
the  heat  of  that  body  and  of  the  solar  core  within. 
While  with  a  small  electrolytic  apparatus  we  find 
no  special  differences  of  temperature  in  the  gases, 
with  large  quantities  of  electricity,  driven  at  a  high 
potential,  we  find  that  a  new  and  startling  result 
ensues.  Something  of  this  sort  is  seen  in  the  oper- 
ation of  electric  arc-light  lamps,  now  in  common 
use,  in  which  two  slightly  separated  carbon  points 
are  traversed  "by  a  current  of  considerable  potential. 
The  current  is  driven  across  the  intervening  space 
between  the  points,  carrying  with  it  an  atmosphere 
of  disintegrated  carbon,  through  which  the  elec- 
tricity is  carried  at  its  highest  speed,  and  a  most 
brilliant  light  is  produced.  In  "  Electricity  in  the 
Service  of  Man,"  page  151,  it  is  said,  "  We  may 
conclude  from  this  that  the  current  does  not  cease 
when  the  arc  of  light  is  formed.  The  resistance 
of  the  arc  seems  to  be  only  very  slight;  in  fact, 
the  current  must  be  conducted  by  it."  Of  the 
structure  and  constitution  of  the  luminous  electro- 
sphere,  or  arc,  produced  in  these  lamps,  "  Professor 
J.  A.  Fleming,"  says  the  Scientific  American,  "  has 
shown  that  the  well-known  color  of  the  light  of 
the  electric  arc  from  carbon  points  is  due  to  the 
incandescence  of  the  carbon  filling  the  space  be- 
tween the  positive  and  the  negative  rods.  The 
true  arc  is  here,  and  exists  in  a  space  filled  with 
the  vapor  of  carbon,  which  has  a  brilliant  violet 
color.  Examined  by  the  spectroscope,  the  central 
axis  of  the  carbon  arc  gives  a  spectrum  marked  by 


84       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

two  bright  violet  bands.  Outside  this  is  an  aureole 
of  carbon  vapor  of  yellow  or  golden  color.  The 
electrical  strain  of  the  arc  occurs  chiefly  at  the  sur- 
face of  the  crater  which  forms  at  the  end  of  the 
positive  rod,  where,  in  fact,  the  principal  work  of 
generating  light  is  done ;  for  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
total  light  of  the  arc  comes  from  the  incandescent  car- 
bon at  this  place.  Thus,  in  a  sense,  the  arc  light  is 
mainly  an  incandescent  light,  the  effect  being 
produced  by  the  layer  of  carbon  which  is  being 
constantly  evaporated  at  an  extremely  elevated 
temperature.  Hence  the  light  of  the  carbon  arc  is 
not,  and  can  never  be,  white,  as  it  is  sometimes  de- 
scribed as  being,  but  must  always  be  tinted  violet 
by  the  carbon  vapor  normally  present  between  the 
rods." 

The  significance  of  the  above-quoted  extract  will 
be  readily  perceived  when  we  come  to  consider  the 
action  of  the  direct  planetary  electrical  currents 
upon  the  solar  envelope,  the  effects  in  both  cases 
being  substantially  identical.  The  quantity  and 
intensity  of  the  electric  current,  as  it  passes  through 
the  incandescent  arc  to  the  negative  pole,  and 
thence  back  to  the  dynamo,  are  diminished  ex- 
actly in  proportion  to  the  energy  expended  in  the 
generation  of  the  light  and  heat  of  the  arc.  It  is 
precisely  the  same  as  in  the  operation  of  a  turbine 
water-wheel ;  if  working  at  its  highest  efficiency, 
the  discharged  water  is  almost  deprived  of  force  : 
its  gravity  has  been  converted  into  work.  In  the 
electric  light  this  conversion  is  only  partial,  owing 
to  atmospheric  and  other  conditions;  but  in  the 


THE  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  85 

case  of  the  solar  envelope  and  its  core,  it  is  nearly, 
if  not  altogether,  perfect,  so  that  the  currents  of 
electricity  are  almost  entirely  converted  into  light 
and  heat,  or  expended  in  the  electrolytic  decompo- 
sition of  the  surrounding  aqueous  vapors,  and  do 
not  reappear  as  electricity,  but  as  converted  solar 
energy.  Brilliant,  however,  as  the  light  rays  are 
in  a  powerful  arc  lamp, — perhaps  the  nearest  to 
solar  light  we  can  produce, — the  obscure  heat  rays 
are  far  more  numerous  and  powerful.  On  page 
476  of  the  work  just  cited  a  table  is  given,  show- 
ing the  proportion  of  visible  and  invisible  rays 
emitted  by  different  illuminants,  and  with  the  elec- 
tric lamp,  even,  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  rays 
emitted  by  the  voltaic  arc  are  heat  rays,  which  are 
obscure  and  invisible.  But  the  startling  effects  of 
electricity  of  large  quantity  and  high  potential,  in 
the  decomposition  of  water,  are  far  more  strikingly 
exhibited  by  an  apparatus  shown  in  1893  at  the 
Chicago  Exhibition  by  a  firm  from  Brussels,  and 
which  is  described  in  the  Electrical  Review  as  fol- 
lows :  "  An  ordinary  wooden  pail  is  three-quarters 
filled  with  water  slightly  acidulated ;  a  lead  plate 
about  nine  inches  broad  by  sixteen  inches  long 
dips  to  the  bottom  of  the  pail  and  is  connected  to 
an  incandescent  dynamo  machine  capable  of  giving 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  amperes.  The  iron 
rod,  or  article  to  be  heated,  is  connected  to  the 
pole  of  the  dynamo  and  simply  dipped  into  the 
water;  it  immediately  becomes  heated  and  rapidly 
rises  to  a  melting  temperature ;  only  that  portion 
of  the  metal  completely  immersed  becomes  heated, 

8 


86       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  the  heating  is  so  rapid  that  neither  the  water 
nor  that  portion  of  the  metal  out  of  the  water  be- 
comes very  warm.  Wrought  iron  and  steel  actu- 
ally melt  if  long  enough  held  under  water.  A 
carbon  rod  subjected  to  this  process  becomes  amor- 
phous carbon,  proving  that  a  temperature  of  at 
least  four  thousand  degrees  Centigrade  has  been 
reached,  and  it  is  stated  that  with  two  hundred 
and  twenty  volts'  pressure  a  temperature  of  eight 
thousand  degrees  Centigrade  has  been  reached. 
There  are  various  theories  to  account  for  this  phe- 
nomenon, but  from  close  observation  it  appears  to 
be  a  case  of  arc  heating.  The  moment  the  metal 
is  plunged  into  the  water  it  is  enveloped  in  hydrogen 
gas  decomposed  from  the  water.  This  envelope  of 
gas  parts  the  water  and  metal,  forming  an  arc, 
which  raises  the  surrounding  gaseous  envelope  to 
an  enormous  temperature;  the  metal  surrounded 
by  this  arc  is  almost  immediately  raised  to  the 
same  temperature.  A  flame  of  burning  hydrogen 
appears  around  the  metal  on  the  surface  of  the 
water.  The  principle  of  the  method  is  the  same 
as  that  on  which  the  burning  of  an  arc  light  be- 
tween two  carbon  points  under  water  depends. 
An  arc  lamp  will  burn  quite  steadily  under  water 
if  the  connections  are  made  water-proof;  the  arc 
itself  requires  no  protection." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  process  above  described 
is  precisely  analogous  to  that  involved  in  the 
problem  of  the  sun's  energy.  The  planets  cor- 
respond with  the  leaden  plates,  upon  which  oxy- 
gen is  disengaged  from  the  water,  while  at  the 


V. 

THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  87 

same  moment  the  liberated  hydrogen  necessarily 
appears  at  the  opposite  pole.  The  generation  of 
hydrogen  gas  forms  an  envelope  or  atmosphere 
of  hydrogen  around  the  sun  which  forces  back 
the  aqueous  vapor.  The  current,  in  passing 
through  this  gaseous  envelope  to  the  metal  core 
within,  intensely  heats  the  hydrogen,  which  rap- 
idly communicates  its  rising  heat  to  the  central 
core.  If  this  core  is  composed  of  metals,  and  the 
temperature  be  raised  sufficiently  high,  which  only 
depends  upon  the  quantity  and  working  pressure 
of  the  electricity  employed,  the  metal  core  will  be 
volatilized  in  whole  or  in  part,  and,  if  of  mixed 
metals,  we  will  find  the  presence  of  these  elements 
revealed  in  the  spectroscopic  lines  corresponding 
thereto,  and  the  flames  and  flashes  of  hydrogen  at 
the  surfaces  beyond  the  envelope,  at  the  surface  of 
contact  with  the  matter  of  space,  will  be  also  seen. 
In  fact,  such  an  experiment,  properly  prepared, 
could  be  made  to  show  roughly  most  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  solar  light  and  heat  as  they  actually 
appear,  such  as  sun-spots,  prominences,  jets,  plumes, 
faculse,  the  photosphere,  chromosphere,  absorption 
bands,  vortical  disturbances,  metallic  vapors,  and 
the  complete  solar  spectrum,  with  the  different 
Fraunhofer  lines.  In  the  case  of  the  sun,  these 
currents  must  be  measured  by  millions  of  amperes, 
and  possibly  by  hundreds  of  millions  of  volts,  in- 
stead of  By  mere  hundreds,  while  the  hydrogen 
envelope  extends  outward  from  the  sun's  surface 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles  until,  perhaps, 
finally  merged  into  the  corona.  As  the  currents 


88       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

pass  from  the  planets  and  planetoids  (for  not  only 
the  larger  planets,  but  all  the  planetary  bodies  of 
our  system  must  contribute,  if  any  of  them  con- 
tribute) to  the  sun,  or  rather  to  the  sphere  of  its 
electrical  action,  without  resistance,  so  long  as 
these  planets  generate  constant  currents  of  the 
same,  or  nearly  the  same,  potential,  so  long  will 
the  sun  maintain  his  constant  light  and  heat;  if 
these  are  increased  or  diminished,  the  sun's  light 
and  heat  will  be  temporarily,  but  only  temporarily, 
increased  or  diminished;  and  this  process  must 
continue,  without  further  loss  or  change,  indefi- 
nitely into  the  future.  Whatever  the  sun  may 
gain  by  increment  of  meteoric  masses  may  pass  for 
what  it  is  worth,  but  the  gradual  contraction  of  his 
volume  cannot  proceed  while  his  present  tempera- 
ture is  maintained  by  the  passage  of  such  currents, 
— that  is  to  say,  his  light  and  heat  will  remain  con- 
stant, and  also  his  mass  and  volume,  so  long  as  the 
electric  currents  which  pass  from  the  planets  to 
the  sun  and  the  constitution  of  space  which  sur- 
rounds the  sun  and  planets  themselves  remain 
constant. 

It  now  remains  to  consider  how  such  enormous 
currents  of  electricity  can  be  generated  and  main- 
tained. "We  know,  of  course,  that  chemical  changes 
cannot  operate  to  produce  them.  They  must  be 
derived  from  something  contained  in  or  diffused 
through  interplanetary  space,  and  the  -planets 
themselves  must  be  the  means  by  which  such  cur- 
rents of  electricity  are  brought  into  effective  oper- 
ation. On  our  own  earth  we  have  many  kinds 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  89 

of  mechanically-constructed  electrical  apparatus 
which  generate  electricity,  to  use  a  popular  expres- 
sion, or  which,  more  properly,  separate  the  opposite 
potentials  from  an  unstable  electrical  tension  or 
equilibrium  of  the  matter  of  space.  These  machines 
practically  take  positive  electricity  from  the  mu- 
tually-balanced electric  potentials  of  which  the 
earth  and  its  surrounding  gaseous  envelope  are  the 
vast  common  storehouse,  in  such  manner  that  the 
positive  electricity  thus  drawn  out  from  and  again 
passing  into  the  common  storehouse  shall,  during 
such  transit,  be  compelled  to  pass  through  channels 
which  will  cause  it  to  do  work,  at  the  expense  of  its 


Ideal  view  of  the  generation  and  transmission  of  planetary  electricity. 

potential  or  pressure,  during  its  passage,  or  in 
which  electricity  is  raised  in  its  electro-motive 
force  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  potential  or  press- 
ure, just  as  the  pressure  of  water  is  increased  when 
delivered  from  a  greater  or  a  still  greater  height,  or 
steam,  when  confined  in  space  under  higher  and 
still  higher  temperatures.  But  none  of  these  ma- 
chines actually  generate  electricity  ab  initio ;  they 
merely  put  into  effective  operation  the  pre-existing 
force.  The  mass  of  the  earth  is  of  irregularly  neg- 
ative polarity,  the  air  above  is  positive,  and  as  we 


90      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ascend,  the  potential,  or  voltage,  or  pressure  in- 
creases at  a  nearly  uniform  rate  of  from  twenty  to 
forty  volts  for  each  foot.  The  earth  is  thus  sur- 
rounded by  an  electrosphere  as  well  as  an  atmos- 
phere, and  the  two  are  not  coincident,  for  while 
the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  diminishes  as  we 
ascend,  that  of  the  electrosphere  increases.  The 
moon,  too,  and  each  planet  must  have  its  electro- 
sphere,  and  around  the  sun's  core  we  can  see  the 
solar  electrosphere  in  its  visible  glory.  Thus, 
all  our  planets  rotate  upon  their  axes  and  revolve 
around  the  sun,  each  surrounded  by  an  enor- 
mous electrosphere,  just  as  an  electrical  induction 
machine  is  surrounded,  when  in  operation,  with 
an  electrosphere  of  its  own,  and  which,  by  break- 
ing connection  with  the  conductor  which  carries 
aw^ay  its  current,  becomes,  when  shown  in  a  dark- 
ened room,  clearly  visible.  In  "  Electricity  in 
the  Service  of  Man"  it  is  said,  page  63,  "  The 
inductive  action  of  the  machine  is  quite  as  rapid 
and  as  powerful  when  both  collectors  are  removed 
and  nothing  is  left  but  the  two  rotating  disks  and 
their  respective  contact  or  neutralizing  brushes. 
The  whole  apparatus  then  bristles  with  electricity, 
and  if  viewed  in  the  dark  presents  a  most  beautiful 
appearance,  being  literally  bathed  with  luminous 
brush  discharges."  This  is  a  true  aurora. 

Let  us  now  examine  some  of  these  more  recent 
electric  machines, — the  later  induction,  not  the 
older  frictional  machines,  for  it  is  obvious  that  the 
rotation  of  the  planets,  if  they  operate  as  electric 
generators,  or  separators,  must  act  by  induction 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 


91 


The  Aurora  Borealis.    (From  "  Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man.") 


Diffused  brush  discharge  of  electrical  machine,  when  operating  with  its  cur- 
rent cut  off  or  interrupted  between  machine  and  principal  condenser. 


92      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  not  by  friction.  The  frictional  machines  are 
of  the  old  type  and  are  well  known  from  the  books ; 
in  these  a  glass  disk  or  cylinder  is  rubbed  upon  in 
its  rotation  by  an  amalgamated  (so  called)  friction 
pad  fixed  securely  to  the  bed  of  the  machine.  But 
more  recently  these  have  been  replaced  by  far  more 
powerful  and  simple  machines  which  operate  en- 
tirely by  induction,  like  approaching  thunder- 
clouds, for  instance,  and  in  which  one  or  more 
glass  disks  are  merely  rotated  rapidly  and  freely  in 
the  air,  these  disks  having  a  number  of  light  me- 
tallic sectors,  such  as  bits  of  tin-foil,  pasted  on  their 
outer  sides  at  equal  radial  intervals,  and  with  me- 
tallic collecting  brushes  which,  however,  barely 
graze  the  surfaces  of  the  rotating  disk.  There  is 
no  pressure  and  no  friction,  except  that  of  the 
disks  as  they  freely  revolve  in  the  atmosphere. 

In  the  above- quoted  work,  page  61,  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  Wimshurst's  influence  machine,  one  of  the 
most  recent  and  most  powerful,  which  we  condense 
as  follows :  This  machine  was  produced  about  1883. 
It  consists  of  two  circular  disks  of  thin  glass  four- 
teen and  one-half  inches  in  diameter  in  the  sample 
described,  attached  at  their  centers  to  loose  bosses, 
so  as  to  be  rotated  by  cords  and  pulleys  operated  by 
a  handle,  in  opposite  directions.  The  disks  rotate 
parallel  with  each  other  and  are  not  more  than  one- 
eighth  of  an  inch  apart,  and  have  their  surfaces 
well  varnished;  and  attached  by  cement  to  their 
outer  surfaces  are  twelve  or  more  radial,  sector- 
shaped  plates  of  thin  brass-  or  tin-foil,  disposed 
around  the  disks  at  equal  distances  apart.  These 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  93 

sectors  take  the  place  of  the  "  inductors"  of  Holtz's 
instrument,  and  appear  to  act  also  as  carriers, 
though  the  exact  nature  of  their  action  is  somewhat 
mysterious.  It  appears,  however,  probable  that 
those  acting  for  the  time  as  carriers  on  the  one 
disk  act  at  the  same  time  as  inductors  on  the  other. 
The  two  sectors  on  the  same  diameter  of  each  disk, 
at  opposite  sides  of  the  center,  are  twice  in  each 
revolution  momentarily  placed  in  metallic  connec- 
tion with  one  another  by  means  of  a  pair  of  fine 
wire  brushes  attached  to  the  ends  of  a  bent  metal 
rod  loosely  pivoted  at  the  center  of  each  disk,  the 
metal  sectors  just  grazing  the  tips  of  the  wire  brushes 
as  they  pass.  There  is  one  of  these  bent  rods  on 
the  outside  of  each  disk,  and  their  position  as  piv- 
oted on  their  center  can  be  varied  at  will,  both  with 
reference  to  the  one  on  the  opposite  side  and  to  the 
position  of  the  fixed  collecting  combs.  The  ef- 
ficiency of  the  machine  varies  with  their  position, 
and  the  maximum  appears  to  be  generally  when 
the  brushes  touch  the  disks  on  diameters  crossing 
the  position  of  the  collecting  combs  at  about  forty- 
five  degrees,  and  with  the  bent  rods  on  opposite 
sides  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  The  collecting 
combs  are  simple  forks  with  collecting  points 
turned  inward,  which  forks  embrace  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  disks  outside,  which  freely  rotate  be- 
tween them,  and  they  are  supported  on  insulated 
posts.  These  supports  may  be  small  Ley  den  jars 
or  condensers,  with  discharging  knobs,  or  may  be 
connected  with  similar  condensers  at  a  distance,  or 
arranged  in  batteries  or  otherwise.  The  presence 


94      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  the  collecting  combs  is  not  necessary  to  the  oper- 
ation of  the  machine,  their  sole  function  being  to 
carry  away  the  positive  electricity  as  generated. 
The  machine  is  self-exciting,  and  it  is  believed  that 
the  initial  action  must  be  due  to  friction  in  the  layer 
of  air  contained  between  the  plates,  which,  as  above 
stated,  are  only  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  apart. 
It  is  nearly  independent  of  atmospheric  conditions, 
and  not  liable  to  reverse  its  polarity,  as  are  the 
Voss  machines.  The  Yoss  machine  uses  a  larger 
glass  disk  which  does  not  rotate,  but  is  fixed,  and 
which  has  a  central  opening  three  inches  wide,  with 
a  different  arrangement  of  tin-foil  disks  or  sectors, 
and  a  smaller  glass  disk  rotates  parallel  with  it.  The 
Holtz  machine  is  somewhat  similar,  using  a  single 
rotating,  well-varnished  glass  disk  revolving  oppo- 
site a  well-varnished  larger  disk,  the  latter  provided 
with  three  sector-shaped  openings  or  windows,  with 
varnished  paper  inductors  or  flaps  passing  through 
these  windows  so  as  to  touch  the  revolving  disk. 
There  are  also  two  series  of  fine  metal  points  held 
by  brass  bars  provided  with  insulated  handles  and 
discharging  knobs. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the 
construction  and  operation  of  such  machines,  as 
their  specific  construction  can  be  readily  learned 
from  the  books.  Of  the  mode  of  operation,  how- 
ever, it  is  said,  "  What  takes  place  when  the  machine 
is  in  action  is  of  a  very  complicated  nature,  and  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  perfectly  understood."  With 
a  Wimshurst  machine  having  disks  of  a  diameter 
of  fourteen  and  one-half  inches  "there  is  produced 


THE  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  95 

under  ordinary  atmospheric  conditions  a  powerful 
spark  discharge  between  the  knobs  when  they  are 
separated  by  a  distance  of  four  and  one-half  inches, 
a  pint  size  Ley  den  jar  being  in  connection  with 
each  knob  (one  on  each  opposite  diameter  of  the 
two  disks),  and  these  four-and-one-half-inch  dis- 
charges take  place  in  regular  succession  at  every 
two  and  a  half  turns  of  the  handle.  It  is  usual  to 
construct  the  machine  with  small  Ley  den  jars  or 
condensers  attached  to  conductors,  by  which  the 
spark  is  materially  increased.  A  machine  has  been 
constructed  with  plates  seven  feet  in  diameter, 
which,  it  was  believed,  would  give  sparks  thirty 
inches  long;  but  no  Leyden  jars  have  been  found 
to  withstand  its  discharge,  all  being  pierced  by  the 
enormous  tension."  Three  of  Toepler's  induction 
machines  (see  page  59,  "  Electricity  in  the  Service 
of  Man"),  connected  together,  gave  a  current  which 
maintained  a  platinum  wire  one-fifth  of  a  milli- 
meter thick  continually  at  a  red  heat,  and  was  also 
capable  of  decomposing  water. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

THE  remarkable  resemblance  between  the  mode 
of  operation  and  effects  of  these  electrical  induc- 
tion machines  and  the  vast  rotating  electrosphere 
of  the  earth  must  be  at  once  apparent.  The  opera- 
tion is  precisely  the  same,  and  the  results  must, 
paripassu,  be  substantially  similar.  We  need  not 
seek  for  precise  parallelism  of  structure,  because 
these  machines  themselves,  it  has  been  shown, 
widely  differ  in  structure  among  themselves.  But 
the  almost  infinitely  more  vast  terrestrial  electro- 
sphere,  which  cannot  be  less  than  ten  thousand 
miles  in  diameter,  and  perhaps  much  more  (if  we 
may  form  an  opinion  from  the  relative  magnitude 
of  the  field  of  action  of  the  hydrogen  envelope 
which  constitutes  the  solar  electrosphere),  rotating 
in  the  attenuated  vapors  of  space,  among  which 
vapors  that  of  water  plays  a  most  important  part, 
and  which  vapors  constantly  impinge  with  various 
disturbances  of  contact  against  the  more  and  more 
attenuated  layers  of  the  terrestrial  atmosphere,  and 
which  gradually,  from  within  outward,  less  and 
less  partakes  of  the  earth's  rotation  until,  finally, 
its  rotatory  movement  is  lost  in  the  vast  ocean  of 
space,  establishes  the  certainty  that  enormous  quan- 
tities of  electricity  must  there  be  disengaged,  pre- 
96 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  97 

cisely  as  in  the  machines  which  we  have  described, 
and  to  learn  the  potential  or  active  pressure  of  this 
electricity  we  have  only  to  consider  the  fact  that 
we  find  a  rise  so  rapid,  as  we  ascend  through  our 
atmosphere,  that  the  potential  increases  by  from 
twenty  to  forty  volts  for  each  foot.  That  these 
currents  are  transmitted  to  the  sun  without  appre- 
ciable resistance  we  already  know,  and  that  they 
are  there  transformed  into  light  and  heat  we  can, 
from  the  previously  cited  experiments,  see. 

But  it  may  be  urged  that  the  resistance  of  such 
attenuated  vapors  in  space,  and  the  generation  of 
electricity  in  such  quantities,  would  inevitably  re- 
tard and  finally  destroy  planetary  motion.  The 
sufficient  answer  to  this  is  found  in  the  considera- 
tion that  the  same  facts  must  exist  under  any  possi- 
ble mode  of  organization  of  our  solar  system,  and 
that  such  interference,  besides,  must  have  absolutely 
prevented  its  formation  at  all,  if  such  were  the  case. 
All  the  matter  of  our  planetary  system  together  is 
only  one  seven-hundred-and-fiffcieth  that  of  the  sun ; 
if  this  were  added  to  the  sun's  bulk  it  would  but 
slightly  enlarge  it.  But  all  this  solar  and  planetary 
matter  together,  if  distributed  over  the  space  occu- 
pied by  our  planetary  system, — and,  by  the  nebular 
hypothesis  of  the  organization  of  our  solar  system, 
this  is  requisite, — and  having  an  axial  diameter  one- 
half  that  of  its  equatorial  (see  Proctor's  "  Familiar 
Essays  on  Scientific  Subjects," — "  Oxygen  in  the 
Sun"),  would  have  had  a  density  of  only  about  one 
four-hundred-thousandth  that  of  hydrogen  gas  at 
atmospheric  pressure.  This  nebular  mass  must 
E  g  9 


98      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

have  had  a  diameter  at  least  sixty  times  that  of  the 
distance  of  the  earth  from  the  sun  and  a  depth  of 
thirty  times  its  distance.  That  this  enormous  mass 
of  attenuated  matter  should  ever  have  been  made 
to  rotate  as  a  whole  by  any  force  of  attraction,  re- 
pulsion, or  rotation,  with  a  tenuity  so  great  that, 
if  measured  by  an  equal  volume  of  hydrogen  gas, 
— the  lightest  substance  known  to  us, — it  would 
have  furnished  material  for  four  hundred  thousand 
such  systems  as  ours,  presupposes  a  resistance  so 
slight  that  the  planets  themselves,  when  coagulated 
out  of  such  a  mass,  could  never  in  any  conceivable 
time  exhibit  retardation  from  such  a  source ;  and  we 
know  to  a  certainty  that  such  attenuated  vapors  do 
exist  in  space,  for  electricity  cannot  be  transmitted 
through  a  vacuum,  and  it  is  transmitted  with  per- 
fect freedom  between  the  earth  and  the  sun.  But 
it  may  be  said  that  the  laws  were  then  different. 
If  they  were  different  then,  they  are  doubtless  dif- 
ferent now.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  assume  that 
the  bodies  of  which  our  solar  system  is  composed 
were  simply  aggregated  into  concrete  masses  from 
meteoric  dust,  the  difficulty  is  not  lessened ;  for  if 
the  resistances  to  their  operation  now  are  such  as 
to  perceptibly  retard  their  motions,  they  must  have 
operated  still  more  powerfully  to  originally  prevent 
them ;  while,  if  hurled  forth  by  an  almighty  fiat, 
complete  from  the  hand  of  creative  energy,  the 
same  force  which  impelled  them  forward  must 
have  also  established  the  laws  under  which  they 
now  move. 

It  is  calculated  that  our  earth  must  be  losing 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  99 

time,  by  tidal  retardation,  at  the  rate  of  one-half 
the  moon's  diameter  in  each  twelve  hundred  years 
(see  Proctor,  "  Light  Science  for  Leisure  Hours," 
— "  Our  Chief  Timepiece  Losing  Time"),  and 
that  "  the  length  of  a  day  is  now  more  by  about 
one  eighty-fourth  part  of  a  second  than  it  was  two 
thousand  years  ago."  Perhaps,  however,  we  may 
discover  that  these  changes  are  themselves  periodic 
and  increase  in  cycles  to  a  maximum,  and  then 
diminish,  as  is  the  case  with  magnetic,  planetary, 
and  stellar  variations,  and  other  similar  changes, 
when  sufficiently  long  observed;  for  while  such 
changes  may  very  well  accompany  a  theory  under 
which  our  system  and  all  other  systems  are  slowly 
running  down  to  decay  and  death,  it  is  entirely  in- 
compatible with  the  primal  forces  under  which 
they  must  have  been  originally  formed.  In  other 
words,  if  the  tides  are  dragging  back  our  earth 
without  compensation,  this  dragging  back  can  only 
come  from  the  oceanic  deposit  of  water  on  the 
earth  from  the  aqueous  vapors  of  space  which  do 
not  partake  of  the  planetary  rotation  and  orbital 
movement  of  the  earth.  But  if  these  can  now  re- 
tard the  earth's  motion,  they  must  have  originally 
prevented  it  in  the  beginning.  This  loss  of  time 
is,  moreover,  merely  inferential  from  mathematical 
computations,  and  its  basis  is  found  in  the  belief 
that  all  the  operations  of  nature  are  in  a  slow  pro- 
cess of  degradation,  and  the  calculated  loss  itself 
may  be  merely  theoretical,  and  not  true  in  fact. 
Professor  Proctor  himself  concedes  the  uncertainty 
of  this  alleged  retardation  when  he  says  in  the  same 


100     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

article,  "  At  this  rate  of  change  our  day  would 
merge  into  a  lunar  month  in  the  course  of  thirty- 
six  thousand  millions  of  years.  But  after  a  while 
the  change  will  take  place  more  slowly,  and  some 
trillion  or  so  of  years  will  elapse  before  the  full  change 
is  effected." 

While  the  processes  of  nature  are  generally  be- 
lieved to  be  running  down,  everything  is  bent  to 
that  belief;  but  the  forces  of  nature  must,  never- 
theless, be  uniform  and  supreme,  for  it  is  by  these 
forces  that  the  expected  results  are  to  be  achieved. 
That  changes  occur  constantly  is  inevitable,  but 
the  source  of  these  must  be  looked  for  in  the  inter- 
action of  original  forces,  and  not  in  the  degradation 
of  systems.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  in  fact,  that 
the  repulsion  of  the  terrestrial  electrosphere  by  that 
of  the  moon  may  itself  be  sufficient  to  counteract 
such  retarding  force  of  lunar  gravity,  for  the  tides 
upon  earth  are  not  merely  oceanic,  but  atmospheric, 
and  on  the  latter  the  electrical  repulsion  of  the 
moon  must  act  very  powerfully  and  with  directly 
counteractive  effect. 

Let  us  now  apply  the  preceding  principles  to  the 
problem  under  review.  All  planetary  space  is  per- 
vaded with  attenuated  vapors  or  gases,  among 
which  aqueous  vapor  occupies  a  leading  place.  The 
planets  and  all  planetary  bodies,  having  opposite 
electrical  polarity  from  the  central  and  relatively 
fixed  sun,  by  their  orbital  motions  around  and  con- 
stant subjection  thereto  act  as  enormous  induction 
machines,  which  generate  electricity  from  the  ocean 
of  attenuated  aqueous  vapor,  each  planet  being  sur- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 


101 


rounded  by  an  enormous  electrosphere,  carried  with 
the  planet  in  its  axial  and  orbital  movements,  the 
successive  atmospheric  envelopes  gradually  dimin- 


*•// 


S  »    \  •        ;  ;    •'  / 

\\\  I/// 


Planetary  generation  and  transmission  of  electrical  energy.— A,  the  planet; 
B,  electrosphere  showing  circles  of  gradually  diminishing  rotation  ;  E,  inter- 
planetary space ;  D,  curve  of  gradually  diminishing  rotation  ;  F,  F,  currents 
of  electricity  flowing  to  the  sun ;  S,  direction  of  the  sun. 

ishing  in  rotational  velocity  until  merged  into  the 
outer  ocean  of  space.  As  the  planets  advance  in 
their  orbits  they  plunge  into  new  and  fresh  fields, 
and,  as  the  whole  solar  system  gradually  moves 

9* 


102     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

onward  through  space,  these  fields  are  never  re- 
occupied.  These  electrospheres,  by  their  rotation, 
generate  enormous  quantities  of  electricity  at  an 
extremely  high  potential, — so  high  that  we  can 
scarcely  even  conceive  it, — and  this  electricity  flows 
in  a  constant  current  to  the  sun,  where  it  disappears 
as  electricity,  to  reappear  in  the  form  of  solar  light 
and  heat.  These  planetary  currents  also  flow  to- 
wards such  other  negatively  electrified  bodies  as 
may  exist  in  space — the  comets  and  fixed  stars,  for 
example — in  proportion  to  their  distance ;  for,  since 
resistance  is  not  appreciable  between  ourselves  and 
the  sun,  as  is  also  the  case  with  light,  so,  like  light, 
our  electricity  must  pass  outward  as  well  as  inward 
to  take  part  in  the  harmonious  operations  of  the 
whole  universe.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  the 
distribution  of  electric  energy  in  the  form  of  cur- 
rents is  quite  different  from  that  of  light  or  other 
radiant  energy ;  for  while  light  is  diffused  from  a 
center  outward  through  space,  electric  currents,  on 
the  contrary,  are  concentrated  and  directed  along 
lines  of  force  to  concrete  centers  of  opposite  po- 
larity. As  a  consequence,  the  intensity  of  light 
decreases  according  to  the  squares  of  the  distances 
traversed  plus  the  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the 
light  itself,  while  the  electric  current  is  only  dimin- 
ished by  the  resistance  of  the  medium  through 
which  it  passes.  As  the  light  of  the  sun  has  a 
velocity  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand 
miles  per  second,  and  the  electric  current  between 
the  earth  and  the  sun  the  same,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  resistance  is  practically  alike  for  these  two  forms 


THE  SOURCE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  103 

of  energy.  Indeed,  the  striking  resemblance  be- 
tween the  ethereal  vibrations  which  constitute  light 
and  heat  and  exceedingly  rapid  alternating  currents 
of  electricity  through  molecular  media  may  suggest 


Upper  figure.— Gradual  discharge  between  two  conductors,  in  partial 
vacuum. 

Lower  figure.— Sudden  electric  discharge  through  the  atmosphere,  from 
left  to  right. 

that  the  transformation  of  one  force  into  the  other 
is  some  sort  of  a  "  step-up"  or  "  step-down"  process, 
much  higher  in  degree,  but  of  the  same  character 
as  the  well-known  analogous  electrical  transforma- 
tions used  in  the  arts.  It  should  also  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  while  the  intensity  of  light  diminishes 
according  to  the  above  law,  the  quantity  remains  the 
same,  less  resistance,  as  the  area  covered  increases 
precisely  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  intensity 
diminishes, — that  is,  in  the  ratio  of  squares. 

Around  the  earth  and  other  planets  gravity  at- 
tracts the  aqueous  vapors  in  increased  density,  the 
same  as  around  the  sun;,  but  the  electric  currents 
passing  between  the  planets  and  the  sun  decompose 
this  aqueous  vapor  into  its  constituent  gases,  hydro- 
gen and  oxygen.  The  oxygen  is  deposited  within 
the  positive  electrospheres  of  the  planetary  bodies, 
where  it  mingles  with  nitrogen  to  form  our  at- 


104     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

mosphere  and  those  of  the  other  planets.  In  this 
float  the  aqueous  vapors  condensed  from  space, 
which  are  lighter  than  air.  (See  Tyndall,  "  The 
Forms  of  Water :"  "  It  also  sends  up  a  quantity 
of  aqueous  vapor  which,  being  far  lighter  than  air, 
helps  the  latter  to  rise.")  These  aqueous  vapors, 
condensed  into  clouds  and  precipitated  upon  the 
earth,  form  our  oceans  and  their  affluents.  The 
hydrogen  gas  disengaged  upon  the  sun's  surface 
forms  a  similar  envelope,  which  is  penetrated  by 
the  planetary  electric  currents,  and  is  thus  highly 
heated  and  rendered  incandescent;  the  glowing 
hydrogen  transmits  its  heat  to  the  sun's  mass 
within,  which  is  thus  raised  to,  and  permanently 
maintained  in,  a  liquid  or  densely  gaseous  state,  its 
metallic  constituents  being  volatilized  in  part,  and 
these  metallic  vapors  mingle  with  the  lower  strata 
of  hydrogen  to  form  the  sun's  photosphere,  while, 
above,  the  glowing  hydrogen  grows  more  pure,  and 
finally,  at  a  distance  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
miles,  is  merged  into  the  corona,  which  is  composed, 
in  part  at  least,  of  cosmical  dust  rotating  around 
and  repelled  by  the  sun,  and  which  shines  partly 
by  reflected  light,  partly  by  that  of  the  relatively 
cooler  hydrogen,  and  partly,  perhaps,  by  electrifi- 
cation of  its  constituents  by  the  powerful  currents 
passing  through  it.  Each  of  the  planetary  bodies, 
large  or  small,  takes-  its  proportionate  part  in  the 
generation  and  transmission  of  electricity,  according 
to  its  volume,  mass,  and  motion.  As  an  adjunct  to 
this  electrical  sequence  we  have  learned  that  any  in- 
terruption of  such  currents  between  the  generator 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  105 

and  the  receiver  will  cause  the  generating  apparatus 
to  glow  with  diffused  electrical  light,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Wimshurst  machine  already  described. 
When  such  connection  is  removed,  it  is  said,  "  the 
whole  apparatus  bristles  with  electricity,  and  if 
viewed  in  the  dark  presents  a  most  beautiful  ap- 
pearance, being  literally  bathed  with  luminous 
brush  discharges."  Such  a  phenomenon  recalls  at 
once  the  aurora  borealis;  and  when  we  find  this 
as  a  sequence  of  the  electrical  storm  of  the  first  of 
September,  1859,  before  described  ("  at  night  great 
auroras  were  seen  in  both  hemispheres"),  and  con- 
nect with  this  the  persistence  of  electricity  upon  in- 
sulated surfaces  (see  "  Electricity  in  the  Service  of 
Man,"  page  53  :  "  Glass  being  a  bad  conductor,  the 
electricity  does  not  spread  all  over  the  plate,  but 
remains  where  it  is  produced"),  we  shall  inevitably 
conclude  that  there  was  some  partial  interruption 
in  the  current  flowing  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  at 
that  moment ;  and  if  we  recall  that  at  that  very 
instant  "  suddenly  a  bright  light  was  seen  by  each 
observer  to  break  out  on  the  sun's  surface  and  to 
travel  across  a  part  of  the  solar  disk,"  we  shall 
learn  that  the  processes  connected  with  the  produc- 
tion of  such  a  bright  light  will  interrupt  in  part  the 
terrestrial  current.  We  can  readily  understand  that 
if  this  bright  light  exceeded  in  electrical  intensity 
that  due  to  the  earth's  current,  it  might  temporarily 
reverse  the  polarity  of  the  afferent  current  or  retard 
its  flow,  like  the  so-called  "  backwater"  of  a  mill. 
It  would  be  like  attempting  to  discharge  steam 
at  sixty  pounds'  pressure  into  a  vessel  filled  with 


106     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

other  steam  at  sixty-one  pounds.  Whence,  then,' 
came  this  bright  light  ?  Perhaps  from  the  conjoint 
action  of  some  other  planet,  perhaps  from  sudden 
chemical  disassociation  beneath  the  surface,  per- 
haps by  the  abnormal  piling  up  of  depths  of  trans- 
parent glowing  hydrogen  or  other  local  disturbance. 
And  this  leads  to  the  consideration  of  the  uni- 
formity of  solar  action.  The  planetary  electro- 
spheres  will  be  constant  in  their  operation  if  the 
constitution  of  surrounding  space  remains  uniform; 
but  we  shall  find  reason  to  believe  that  there  are- 
currents  in  the  ocean  of  space,  as  there  are  cur- 
rents in  our  own  seas,  and  electrical  generation  will 
necessarily  vary  when  such  currents  are  encoun- 
tered. The  sun  itself  in  such  case,  however,  will 
become  an  automatic  regulator,  for  his  density 
being  but  one-fourth  that  of  the  earth,  and  the 
spectroscope  having  shown  his  chemical  composi- 
tion to  a  large  extent,  we  know  that  his  mass  must 
be  either  liquid  or  vaporous,  and  perhaps  in  part 
both.  Such  masses  readily  respond  to  variations 
of  temperature,  expanding  as  it  rises  and  contract- 
ing as  it  falls.  Hence,  if  a  portion  of  space  were 
reached  where  the  action  of  the  planetary  electro- 
spheres  was  increased  by  relative  increase  of  tem- 
perature in  some  interstellar  "  Gulf  Stream,"  the 
sun's  volume  would  expand  and  compensation  be 
at  once  established,  while,  conversely,  with  dim- 
inution of  such  planetary  action,  the  solar  volume 
would  contract  and  an  increased  supply  from  his 
reserve  store  be  given  out  thereby.  In  this  way 
the  condensation  relied  upon  to  give  us  heat  for 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  107 

seven  or  seventeen  million  years  becomes  a  com- 
pensating  mechanism,  self- operative  through  the 
most  distant  cycles  of  time.     We  shall  also  find  in 
such  electric  currents  an  explanation  of  sun-spots. 
It  is  not  meant  that  a  full  knowledge  can  be  ob- 
tained of  their  minute  constitution,  nor  is  it  neces- 
sary;  but  the  equatorial  belt  of  six  degrees,  nearly 
free  from  sun-spots,  we  can  readily  understand  to 
be  caused — since  sun-spots  are  depressions  in  the 
photosphere  down  to  the  deeper  and  denser  cloud 
strata  beneath— by  the  equatorial  piling  up  of  the 
sun's  atmosphere  by  its  rotation.     Any  point  on 
the  sun's  equator  travels  at  four  times  the  rotational 
velocity  of  one  on  the  earth's  equator,  but  the  sun's 
attraction  of  gravity  is  twenty-seven  and  one-tenth 
times  that  of  the  earth,  so  that  the  piling  up  of  an 
atmosphere  of  hydrogen  would  be  considerable, 
and  such  depressions  would  not  ordinarily  exist 
there.     Similarly,  near  the  sun's  poles  we  should 
find  a  gradual  darkening,  as  is  the  case ;  but  from 
five  degrees  to  thirty  degrees  latitude,  the  sun,  in 
its  rotation,  by  reason  of  the  inclination  of  its  axis, 
passes  at  every  point  directly  beneath  the  planets, 
or  within  their  area  of  control,  and  here  we  find 
the  solar,  spots  in  their  greatest  number,  size,  and 
intensity.    These  sun-spots  cross  the  face  of  the  sun 
in  about  fifteen  days,  and  vary  in  development  from 
year  to  year,  having  'a  cycle  of  11.11  years  from 
maximum  to  maximum.     They  also  have  a  long 
cycle  of  about  fifty-six  years.     (See  article  "  The 
Sun,"  in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia.)    "  Wolf,  in  1859, 
presented  a  formula  by  which  the  frequency  of  spots 


108     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

is  connected  with  the  motions  of  the  four  bodies, 
Venus,  the  earth,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn.  Professor 
Loomis,  of  Yale  College,  has  since  advocated  a 
theory  (suggested  by  the  present  writer  [Proctor] 
in  1865,  in  '  Saturn  and  his  System,'  page  168,  note) 
that  the  long  cycle  of  fifty-six  years  is  related  to 
the  successive  conjunctions  of  Saturn  and  Jupiter. 
But  the  association  is  as  yet  very  far  from  being 
demonstrated,  to  say  the  least."  Should  such  fact 


Position  of  planets  with  reference  to  the  generation  of  sun-spots.— S,  the 
sun ;  S',  axis  of  sun's  rotation  inclined  7°  to  plane  of  planetary  rotation  ;  A 
B,  C,  D,  maximum  intensity  of  planetary  action ;  A',  B',  C',  W,  minimum 
intensity  of  same. 

be  established,  an  explanation  for  it  will  be  found  in 
the  direct  impact  of  the  condensed  electric  currents 
from  several  planets  approaching  conjunction,  and 
raising  a  portion  of  the  sun's  atmosphere  suddenly 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  109 

to  a  higher  temperature  and  volatilizing  an  abnor- 
mal proportion  of  the  semi- vaporous  metallic  core 
beneath.  This  would  form  an  upburst  piling  the 
intensely  heated  faculse  up  on  the  sides  and  reveal- 
ing the  relatively  darker  masses  of  cloud  beneath, 
the  cooler  supernatant  hydrogen  pouring  in  from 
the  upper  layers  to  fill  the  returning  void.  This  is 
precisely  what  is  seen  in  such  spots  and  their  sur- 
rounding disturbances.  In  the  article  "  The  Sun," 
above  quoted,  we  read,  "  Mr.  Huggins  has  found 
that  several  of  the  absorption  bands  belonging  to 
the  solar  spectrum  are  wider  in  the  spectrum  of  a 
spot,  a  circumstance  indicative  of  increased  absorp- 
tion so  far  as  the  vapors  corresponding  to  such  lines 
are  concerned.  .  .  .  Near  the  great  spots  or  groups 
of  spots  there  are  often  seen  streaks  more  luminous 
than  the  neighboring  surface,  called  faculce.  They 
are  oftenest  seen  towards  the  borders  of  the  disk." 
This  writer  also  describes  "  luminous  bridges  across 
spots  which  sink  into  the  vortex  and  are  replaced 
by  others  of  the  numberless  cloud-like  forms  from 
one  hundred  to  one  thousand  miles  in  diameter, 
the  brilliancy  of  which  so  greatly  exceeds  that  of 
the  intervening  spaces  that  they  must  be  recognized 
as  the  principal  radiators  of  the  solar  light  and 
heat."  The  apparent  retardation  of  the  spots  most 
distant  from  the  sun's  equator  may  also  be  partially, 
at  least,  explained  by  planetary  currents  of  elec- 
tricity, as  the  equatorial  atmosphere  is  deeper  and 
more  likely  to  carry  forward  such  vortices  when 
formed,  while  the  planets  act  more  directly  on  the 
sun's  mass  beneath  their  direct  influence. 

10 


110     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Let  us  consider  this  retardation  of  sun-spots  some- 
what more  in  detail.  Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  a 
large  planet  at  such  orbital  position  that  its  direct 
line  of  electrical  impact  will  penetrate  the  photo- 
sphere at  (say)  seven  degrees  north  solar  latitude, 
which  is  about  fifty-two  thousand  miles  from  his 
equator.  During  its  annual  revolution  this  planet 
will  traverse,  with  its  line  of  energy,  every  point 
of  the  sun's  surface  down  to  seven  degrees  south 
latitude  and  back  again  to  its  initial  point,  thus 
tracing  a  close  spiral  around  the  sun  for  fourteen 
degrees,  or  about  one  hundred  and  four  thousand 
miles  in  width.  The  centrifugal  force  of  the  solar 
rotation  piles  up  the  photosphere  and  the  chromo- 
sphere around  the  sun's  equator,  precisely  as  our 
atmosphere  is  piled  up  around  our  own  equator. 
If  the  planet  be  a  large  one  (for  distance  has  but  little 
to  do  with  these  electrical  currents  at  planetary 
distances,  in  which  they  differ  entirely  from  light, 
heat,  and  gravity),  or  if  there  be  two  planets  nearly 
in  conjunction,  the  body  of  the  chromosphere  and 
the  surface  of  the  photosphere  will  gradually  be- 
come highly  heated,  for  currents  of  electricity,  of 
themselves,  do  not  directly  heat  the  solar  core  any 
more  than  a  like  current  heats  the  under  carbon  of 
an  arc  lamp,  the  high  temperature  in  both  cases 
being  altogether  due  to  the  incandescent  heat  of 
the  interposed  arc  or  envelope.  Faculse  of  intense 
brightness  will  then  appear  upon  the  photosphere, 
and  these  will  be  driven  forward  and  also  outward 
in  the  direction  of  the  higher  latitudes,  producing 
an  oblique  forward  movement  from  difference  of 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  Ill 

rotational  speed  at  different  portions  of  the  sun's 
surface.  Similar  phenomena  are  constantly  ob- 
served on  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  the  generation 
and  behavior  of  cyclones  and  other  atmospheric 
disturbances.  They  may  be  compared  to  the 
wake  of  a  vessel  anchored  in  a  strong  tide-way. 
These  faculse  will  slowly  raise  the  temperature  of 
the  surface  of  the  sun's  core  beneath  to  the  point 
of  eruptive  volatilization,  and  particularly  so  if 
the  planet  is  receding  from,  instead  of  advancing 
towards,  the  solar  equator.  At  some  point  in 
advance  of  the  line  of  planetary  energy  an  erup- 
tion of  volatilized  metals  will  suddenly  occur, 
first  thrusting  up  a  vast  area  of  the  photosphere 
and  then  bursting  it  asunder,  which  will  drive 
these  ruptured  masses  with  enormous  speed  for- 
ward and  obliquely  outward  from  the  equator. 
Such  faculse  (see  Proctor's  "  Light  Science")  some- 
times reach  a  velocity  of  seven  thousand  miles  per 
minute,  while  the  sun's  rotational  movement  at  the 
equator  is  less  than  seventy  miles  per  minute.  This 
sudden  eruption  will  be  almost  immediately  suc- 
ceeded by  great  expansion  and  consequent  fall  of 
temperature,  so  that  within  a  few  hours  the  heavy 
volatile  metals  begin  to  condense  and  rapidly  recede 
into  their  crater,  and  the  faculae  in  front  and  at 
the  sides  will  now  stream  inward  to  occupy  this 
vacuum  with  constantly  accelerated  velocity,  pour- 
ing over  the  edges  like  the  rush  of  waters  at  the 
Falls  of  Niagara.  As  they  sweep  downward  over 
the  inner  rim  of  the  funnel,  these  streams  of  faculse 
will  glow  with  increased  whiteness,  and  appear  to 


112     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY 


M      X 


Analysis  of  a  typical  sun-spot.  Intersections  of  lines  drawn  between  AA 
and  MM,  CC  and  MM,  show  state  of  active  eruption ;  DD,  inflowing  faculae 
pouring  downward  over  the  rim  ;  PP,  the  same ;  OO  and  BB  a  floating  bridge, 
partially  completed,  supported  by  the  uprush,  and  along  the  line  NN  torn 
asunder,  and  upward  into  plumes  and  sprays.  The  general  surface  shows 
the  mottlings  and  faculae.  The  partial  formation  of  a  loop  is  shown  at  XX, 
YY.  The  line  EQ  represents  the  sun's  equator ;  from  rear  to  front,  the  direc- 
tion of  solar  rotation.  The  line  of  planetary  impact  is  in  rear. 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  113 

be  sharply  cut  off  at  their  inner  ends ;  but  this  is 
only  apparently  so,  and  is  due  to  the  position  of 
the  observer,  who  looks  almost  directly  downward 
upon  these  descending  streams.  It  is  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  faculae  appear  more  brilliant  when 
near  the  borders  of  the  solar  disk  (see  page  109). 
Any  good  view  of  a  sun-spot  when  analyzed  will 
show  the  streams  of  faculse  thus  pouring  inward, 
and  they  are  among  the  most  peculiar  and  conspic- 
uous phenomena  to  be  observed.  The  drawings 
of  Professor  Langley,  reproduced  in  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly  for  September,  1874,  and  July, 
1885,  are  particularly  striking  in  their  illustration 
of  these  effects,  though  their  significance  and  inter- 
pretation were  not  then  at  hand. 

But  while  these  heavy  metallic  vapors  so  rapidly 
condense  and  subside  in  the  forward  or  initial  por- 
tion of  the  sun-spot  under  observation,  new  depths 
of  intensely-heated  faculse  are  generated  behind, 
and  these  operate  with  renewed  energy  upon  the 
fresh  surface  of  the  solar  core  in  rear  of  the  origi- 
nal seat  of  eruption ;  so  that  each  sun-spot,  while 
in  an  active  state,  will  exhibit  two  entirely  distinct 
aspects,  the  forward  portion  of  the  crater  in  a  state 
of  rapid  condensation  and  subsidence  of  the  re- 
cently erupted  metallic  vapors,  and  with  inflowing 
streams  of  incandescent  hydrogen  from  the  front 
and  sides,  and  the  rear  portion  of  the  crater  up  to 
its  rearward  wall,  and  even  streaming  forth  from 
beneath  it,  in  a  state  of  violent  eruption.  The  large 
volcanic  craters  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  exhibit 
similar  partial  eruptions  and  subsidences  progress- 

h  10* 


114     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ing  simultaneously  in  the  same  depths.  The  sud- 
den formation  of  the  great  incandescent  loops  and 
plumes  to  which  Professor  Langley  calls  especial 
attention,  and  which  have  hitherto  been  so  per- 
plexing, can  now  be  readily  understood  and  ex- 


Retardation  of  sun-spots  by  continuous  development  to  the  rear,  and  reces- 
sion in  front,  as  the  sun  rotates  on  its  axis.  The  short  arrows  represent  lines 
of  planetary  energy ;  the  long  arrows  show  the  direction  of  the  sun's  rota- 
tion. 

The  dark  inner  disk  represents  the  solar  core,  the  white  circle  the  photo- 
sphere, the  mottled  area  the  chromosphere  and  faculae,  and  the  dark  outer 
ring  the  corona.  Loops  and  tufted  sprays  are  shown,  caused  by  inflowing 
faculse  in  front,  caught  by  the  uprush  of  active  portions  of  the  sun-spot 
towards  rear. 

plained.  If  one  of  these  inflowing  streams  be 
carried  partially  down  into  and  across  the  crater, 
and  then  caught,  in  its  advance,  by  the  uprush  in 
the  central  or  rear  portions  of  the  cavity,  it  will  be 
at  once  swept  upward  alongside  the  ascending  erup- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  115 

tion,  and  either  scattered  at  its  forward  extremity 
into  sprays  and  plumes,  or  else  thrown  forward 
bodily  in  the  form  of  a  more  or  less  complete  loop. 
In  a  sun-spot  fifty  thousand  miles  in  diameter,  such 
a  loop,  having  a  long  diameter  of  twenty  thousand 
miles,  if  we  give  a  speed  to  the  faculse  of  seven 
thousand  miles  per  minute,  would  be  formed  in 
about  seven  minutes,  during  which  the  sun-spot 
would  itself  have  advanced  less  than  five  hundred 
miles  across  the  face  of  the  sun.  The  luminous 
bridges  which  form  so  suddenly  across  portions  of 
the  crater  may  be  explained  in  a  similar  manner: 
they  are  streams  of  faculse  floated  on  the  nearly 
balanced  uprush  of  metallic  vapors  from  beneath. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  a  sun-spot  is  not  merely 
a  fixed  eruption,  like  a  volcano,  but  rather  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  eruptions,  like  a  line  of  activity 
following,  for  example,  the  great  terrestrial  volcanic 
curve  which  extends  up  the  western  coast  of 
America,  across  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Asia,  and 
into  Central  and  Southern  Europe,  for  during  its 
progression  its  scene  of  action  is  constantly  being 
shifted  to  the  rear;  it  is  like  a  furrow  cut  by  a 
plough,  in  which  the  upturned  sod  is  constantly  fall- 
ing in  at  one  end  of  the  furrow  while  the  plough  is 
cutting  a  new  furrow  at  the  other,  except  that  in 
this  case  the  plough  is  relatively  fixed  overhead, 
and  the  field  itself  passes  along  beneath  it.  Conse- 
quently, the  center  of  activity  of  a  sun-spot  is  only 
in  its  rear  portions,  generally  considered,  and  the 
whole  sun-spot  is  gradually  retreating,  by  successive 
filling  up  in  front  and  opening  out  behind,  farther 


116     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  farther  to  the  rear, — that  is  to  say,  to  the  east, 
— so  that  retardation  relatively  to  the  rotational 
advance  of  the  photosphere  necessarily  ensues. 

But  when  the  sun-spot  is  developed  upon  or  near 
the  equatorial  line  this  retardation  is  not  so  consid- 
erable, for  the  deeper  layers  of  the  photosphere  in 
those  regions  are  slower  to  act  and  require  greater 
energy  to  affect  them,  so  that  all  except  deep  and 
violent  eruptions  fail  to  show  themselves  at  the  sur- 
face at  all,  and  the  heated  faculse  are  carried  directly 
forward  along  the  surface  of  the  equatorial  swell,  so 
that  the  center  of  activity  is  driven  forward  more 
rapidly  than  in  the  higher  latitudes,  and  the  rate  of 
progression  is  more  nearly  coincident  with  that  of 
the  photosphere.  But  if  these  facts  are  correctly 
stated  and  explained,  we  may  have  to  revise  our  cal- 
culations of  the  sun's  rotational  period,  for  retarda- 
tion to  some  extent  must  occur  in  all  cases,  if  in  any. 

A  sun-spot,  we  thus  perceive,  is  an  elongated 
wave  or  ridge  of  eruption  along  the  rotational  di- 
rection of  the  sun's  body.  Why,  then,  it  may  be 
asked,  is  not  this  line  of  eruption  continuous  en- 
tirely around  the  sun?  For  the  same  reason,  it 
may  be  answered,  that  our  own  cyclones  are  not 
continuous,  though  caused  substantially  in  the  same 
manner,  and  that  volcanic  eruptions  only  occur  at 
long  intervals,  though  the  forces  at  work  are  con- 
tinuous. Lowering  of  temperature  follows  swiftly 
after  eruption,  and  as  the  deeper  structures  of  the 
solar  nucleus  become  gradually  affected,  instead  of 
volatilization  of  the  outer  layers  of  the  surface,  we 
will  have  diffused  gaseous  expansion  of  large  por- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  117 

tions,  and  finally  of  the  entire  solar  mass,  which 
cannot  as  a  whole  be  volatilized  by  any  conceivable 
planetary  energy.  We  see  these  operations  exem- 
plified in  heating  a  bar  of  copper  in  a  Bunsen 
flame ;  the  latter  first  turns  green  from  surface  vola- 
tilization of  the  copper,  but  as  the  heat  is  commu- 
nicated to  the  deeper  structures  the  green  flame 
disappears,  and  the  whole  additional  heat  goes  to 
raise  the  temperature  of  the  mass. 

These  processes  in  the  sun  are  thus  seen  to  be 
self-compensatory  in  their  nature.  They  are  the 
means  provided  to  distribute  the  restricted  areas  of 
abnormally  heated  photosphere  over  the  solar  sur- 
face, and  finally  to  cause  the  absorption  of  the 
whole  excess  of  heat  in  the  sun's  central  mass. 
The  balance  is  so  evenly  maintained,  however,  that, 
were  all  the  planets  equally  distributed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  sun's  surface,  such  sun-spots  would  be 
the  exception  and  not  the  rule,  and  their  distri- 
bution would  be  equal  and  constant ;  but,  as  the 
planets  continually  change  their  positions  with  ref- 
erence to  the  sun  and  to  each  other,  only  by  some 
such  provision  of  nature  could  the  internal  structure 
of  the  sun  be  maintained  without  serious  derange- 
ment, or,  indeed,  final  disruption.  So  nature  dis- 
tributes her  stores  of  heat  upon  the  earth.  These 
beautiful  self-compensations  we  shall  find  suddenly 
appearing,  as  we  advance,  in  all  parts  of  the  field 
of  astronomical  research. 

It  may  seem  like  temerity  to  advance  statements 
so  positive  and  specific  as  to  the  cause,  constitu- 
tion, and  progression  of  sun-spots,  in  the  absence 


118     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  any  considerable  accumulation  of  observations 
to  sustain  them,  but  the  few  examples  which  we 
have  noted  are  in  accordance  with  these  views,  and 
when  attention  is  once  called  to  the  basic  principles 
on  which  they  depend,  observations  will  doubtless 
be  made  in  abundance  to  prove  or  disprove  what 
has  been  here  stated.  The  mere  fact  of  a  differ- 
ential rate  of  advance  among  sun-spots,  as  they 
pass  across  the  solar  face,  of  itself  demonstrates 
that  the  active  causes  of  these  phenomena  must  be 
extra-solar,  and  if  so,  their  only  possible  dynamic 
source  must  be  looked  for  in  the  planets,  and  the 
remaining  conclusions  will  of  necessity  follow  as  a 
corollary.  We  may  even,  by  merely  examining  an 
accurate  drawing  of  a  sun-spot,  determine  its  posi- 
tion and  direction  upon  the  solar  sphere  from  which 
it  was  delineated  by  its  lines  of  active  eruption 
and  influx  of  faculse,  and  also  whether  it  be  a  new 
spot  or  one  which  has  passed  entirely  beyond  its 
active  stage  and  is  about  to  finally  disappear. 

As  for  the  faculae  which  striate  the  photosphere, 
the  mottlings  and  so-called  "willow-leaves,"  any 
one  who  will  quietly  gaze  downward  upon  the  tur- 
bid surface  of  the  Mississippi  or  other  similar  river, 
in  mid-channel,  will  see  plenty  of  such  faculae ;  the 
river  is  full  of  them.  The  heavier,  intermingled 
clay,  slowly  subsiding,  is  caught  up  in  the  turmoil 
beneath  the  surface  and  swept  upward  in  elongated 
ovals  and  eddies,  the  larger  swells  nearly  colorless, 
and  others  of  all  shades  of  ochre  and  yellow,  and 
the  whole  as  richly  mottled,  sometimes,  as  the 
variegated  pattern  of  a  Persian  carpet.  If  we  sub- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  119 

stitute  for  the  subsiding  clay  the  rapidly  sinking 
heavy  metallic  vapors,  and  enlarge  the  scale  from 
the  dimensions  of  the  river  to  those  of  the  sun,  we 
will  have  the  mottled  solar  surface  with  its  kaleido- 
scopic changes,  the  so-called  "  willow-leaves,"  and 
the  faculae  in  all  their  glory.  A  careful  study  of 
the  sun  will  show  most  clearly  that  only  in  some 
such  explanation  as  the  present  view  affords  can  a 
rational  basis  for  its  varied  phenomena  be  found. 

If  the  sun's  equator  were  coincident  with  the 
plane  of  the  planetary  orbits,  it  is  obvious  that  all 
the  planetary  energies  would  be  directed,  whatever 
the  position  of  the  planets  around  the  sun,  immedi- 
ately upon  this  equatorial  great  circle,  and  that,  at 
each  revolution  upon  his  axis,  corresponding  nearly 
to  our  calendar  month,  the  same  part  of  his  sphere 
would  be  exposed  to  these  direct  currents,  so  that 
the  intensity  would  be,  in  its  aggregate,  nearly  a 
constant  quantity.  But,  by  reason  of  the  sun's 
axial  inclination  of  seven  degrees  to  the  plane 
of  the  planetary  orbits,  a  far  more  complex  and 
important  condition  of  affairs  ensues.  It  will  be 
seen  at  once  that  the  plane  of  the  planetary  orbits 
intersects  the  sun's  equator  at  opposite  sides,  and 
that,  from  a  minimum  of  nothing,  this  line  reaches 
a  maximum,  twice  in  each  circumference,  of  seven 
degrees,  one  north  and  the  other  south  of  the  equa- 
tor, and  that  this  arc  of  fourteen  degrees,  thus  trav- 
ersed by  every  planet  in  its  orbital  rotation  around 
the  sun,  measures  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
miles  from  north  to  south  upon  the  solar  surface, 
nearly  one-half  the  distance  which  separates  the 


120     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

earth  from  the  moon.  If  all  the  planets  were  in 
conjunction  or  nearly  so,  on  one  side  of  the  sun, 
for  example,  and  in  the  vertical  plane  of  the  sun's 
axis,  they  would  continue  to  deliver  their  electrical 


niuBtrating  complex  lines  of  planetary  electrical  energy  produced  by  in- 
clination of  sun's  axis.— A  B,  A'  B',  plane  of  planetary  orbits. 

Upper  figure  shows  sun's  axis  inclined  laterally ;  lower  figure,  from  front 
to  rear,  and  at  right  angles  to  former. 

C,  chromosphere ;  E  E,  solar  equator ;  A  B,  A'  B',  lines  of  planetary  electric 
currents ;  F,  latitude  covered  by  vertical  position  of  planets,  14°  in  width ; 
P  P,  sun's  axis. 

currents  with  their  greatest  intensity  upon  a  single 
point  of  his  surface  fifty-two  thousand  miles  north 
of  his  equator,  while  the  opposite  point,  one  hun- 
dred and  four  thousand  miles  distant,  would  be  un- 
affected hy  any  direct  currents  at  all.  Conversely, 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  121 

if  in  conjunction  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  sun, 
they  would  continue  to  deliver  these  currents  upon 
a  corresponding  point  fifty-two  thousand  miles  south 
of  the  equator;  but  if  in  conjunction  in  the  verti- 
cal plane  transverse  to  the  sun's  axial  inclination, 
these  currents  on  either  side  of  the  sun  would  be 
delivered  directly  upon  the  solar  equator.  The 
importance  of  this  will  be  understood  when  it  is 
considered  that  for  many  of  our  years  such  planets 
as  Jupiter  and  Saturn  must  continue  to  direct  their 
currents  upon  a  very  slowly  changing  point  of  the 
sun's  surface,  by  reason  of  their  vast  annual  rota- 
tional period,  while  with  the  earth  and  the  interior 
planets  these  various  points  are  struck  with  ever- 
increasing  rapidity  as  the  year  decreases  in  length 
with  the  different  planets,  the  earth,  Venus,  and 
Mercury.  There  is  a  solar  equinoctial,  so  to  speak, 
just  as  there  is  a  terrestrial  equinoctial  in  which  the 
sun  crosses  the  line  twice  each  year,  and  the  mete- 
orological disturbances  faintly  shown  on  the  earth 
at  such  times  are  vastly  increased  on  the  sun,  and 
rendered  far  more  complex  by  the  interaction  of 
many  planets  upon  the  sun,  instead  of  a  single  sun 
upon  each  planet.  While  our  equinoctial  has  to  do 
with  gravity  and  light  and  heat,  and  probably  mag- 
netism, the  solar  equinoctial  deals  with  the  vast 
electrical  streams  which  feed  its  fires  and  set  it 
boiling  with  furious  energy,  first  at  one  point,  then 
at  another,  until  the  increment  has  been  absorbed 
and  adjusted,  and  thus  equalized  throughout  his 
mass.  What  a  new  interest  this  must  arouse  in 
our  study  of  sun-spots,  faculse,  prominences,  sun- 
j-  11 


122    SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

storms,  and  the  vast  panorama  of  solar  action  hung 
up  before  our  astonished  eyes !  A  new  world  here 
awaits  its  Columbus. 

But  not  only  the  planets  thus  gather,  so  to  speak, 
electricity  for  the  sun's  support  from  space;  the 
moon  also  must  do  its  part,  as  it  rotates  in  the  same 
manner,  subject  to  the  sun,  and  has  its  own  motion 
through  space.  But  an  examination  of  the  moon 
shows  no  atmosphere  and  no  aqueous  matter  visible 
to  us,  and  also  the  singular  fact  that  it  constantly 
presents  one  side  only  to  the  earth.  R.  Kalley 
Miller,  in  his  "Romance  of  Astronomy,"  article 
"  The  Moon,"  says,  "  After  an  elaborate  analysis, 
Professor  Hausen,  of  Gotha,  found  that  it  could  be 
accounted  for  only  by  supposing  that  the  side  of 
the  moon  nearest  us  was  lighter  than  the  other, 
and  hence  that  its  center  of  gravity  was  not  at  its 
center  of  figure,  but  considerably  nearer  the  side 
of  it  which  is  always  turned  away  from  us.  He 
calculates  the  distance  between  these  centers  to  be 
nearly  thirty-five  miles,  evidently  a  most  important 
eccentricity,  when  we  remember  that  the  radius  of 
the  moon  is  little  over  a  thousand  miles.  It  must 
have  been  produced  by  some  great  internal  convul- 
sion after  the  moon  assumed  its  solid  state ;  but  the 
forces  required  to  produce  this  disruption  are  less 
than  might  at  first  sight  appear  necessary,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  force  of  gravitation  and  the 
weight  of  matter  are  six  times  less  at  the  moon 
than  with  us."  Those  who  are  fond  of  the  so- 
called  "  Argument  of  Design"  will  be  gratified  to 
learn  that,  if  the  moon  had  a  rotation  upon  its  own 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  123 

axis  similar  to  that  of  the  earth,  all  life — past,  pres- 
ent or  future — would  have  been  impossible  on  that 
satellite  or  planet;  and  that,  on  the  contrary, — 
provided  she  always  turns  the  same  side  of  her 
surface  to  the  earth, — it  is  quite  possible  that  air, 
water,  and  life  may  exist,  or  may  have  existed,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  moon,  but  not  otherwise. 
In  fact,  air  and  water  must  now  exist  on  the  oppo- 
site side ;  and,  since  her  whole  supply  will  thus  be 
condensed  upon  half  her  surface  or  less,  even  with 
her  small  force  of  gravity,  it  may  be  quite  sufficient 
in  quantity  and  density  for  the  support  of  animal, 
vegetable,  or  even  human  life.  By  reason  of  this 
difference  in  the  lunar  center  of  gravity,  the  side 
presented  to  the  earth  in  physical  position  is  similar 
to  the  summit  of  a  mountain  upon  the  earth's  sur- 
face two  hundred  miles  high,  and  surely  we  would 
not  expect  to  find  much  air  or  water  or  life  at  that 
altitude.  But  the  opposite  side  would  resemble  a 
champagne  country  at  the  foot  of  this  enormous 
mountain,  and  might  be  well  fitted  for  human  ex- 
istence. Now,  we  know  that  similar  electricities 
repel  each  other,  and  air  or  gases  charged  with 
similar  electricities  are  equally  self-repellent.  Pro- 
fessor Tyndall,  in  his  "  Lessons  in  Electricity,''  says, 
"  The  electricity  escaping  from  a  point  or  flame  into 
the  air  renders  the  air  self-repulsive.  The  conse- 
quence is,  that  when  the  hand  is  placed  over  a 
point  mounted  on  the  prime  conductor  of  a  good 
machine,  a  cold  blast  is  distinctly  felt.  .  .  .  The 
blast  is  called  the  *  electric  wind.'  Wilson  moved 
bodies  by  its  action ;  Faraday  caused  it  to  depress 


EARTH 


Fig.  1,  mutual  repulsion  of  similarly  electrified  pith-balls ;  2,  the  electrical 
windmill,  atmospheric  repulsion ;  3,  repulsion  of  a  flame  by  electricity ;  4, 
electrical  distribution  around  an  oval  conductor ;  5,  mutual  attraction  of 
opposite  electricities ;  5a,  mutual  repulsion  of  similar  electricities ;  6,  mutual 
repulsion  of  electrospheres  of  earth  and  moon ;  7,  mutual  repulsion  of  elec- 
trospheres  of  sun  and  comet. 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  125 

the  surface  of  a  liquid;  Hamilton  employed  the 
reaction  of  the  electric  wind  to  make  pointed  wires 
rotate.  The  wind  was  also  found  to  promote  evap- 
oration." 

While  electrical  repulsion  is  doubtless  analo- 
gous to,  and  correlative  with,  the  attraction  of 
gravitation,  this  force,  and  even  gravity  itself, 
has  been  sometimes  interpreted  as  derived  from 
the  mutually  interacting  molecules  of  space  itself. 
We  may  even  learn  somewhat  of  how  such  repul- 
sions of  similar  and  attractions  of  opposite  elec- 
trospheres  might  occur.  We  constantly  speak  of 
positive  and  negative  electricity  as  though  these 
were  different  fluids,  but  such  expressions  are  em- 
ployed only  in  the  same  manner  as  the  analogous 
terms,  heat  and  cold.  We  know,  of  course,  that 
cold  is  the  relative  absence  of  heat,  the  dividing 
line  being  not  a  fixed,  but  a  constantly  changing 
one,  so  that  one  body  is  cold  to  another  by  reason 
of  relative,  and  not  absolute,  deprivation  of  heat. 
It  is  well  known,  however,  that  cold,  which  is 
purely  a  negative  state,  manifests  the  same  appar- 
ent radiant  energy  as  heat.  A  vessel  near  an  ice- 
berg is  exposed  to  a  wave  of  cold,  precisely  as  of 
heat  from  a  heated  body  at  the  same  distance. 
This,  of  course,  is  due  to  abstraction  and  not  to 
increment.  All  space  being  occupied  by  attenuated 
matter  in  a  state  of  unstable  electrical  equilibrium, 
as  we  say,  which  simply  means  a  condition  ready  to 
be  raised  or  lowered  in  tension  by  absorption  from 
or  into  outside  media,  all  concrete  bodies  floating 
in  that  space  must  have  an  electrical  potential 

11* 


126     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY 

either  equal  to,  or  higher,  or  else  lower  than  that 
of  their  surrounding  space.  A  solitary  body  in 
space,  if  we  can  conceive  of  such,  in  either  a 
higher  or  lower  state  of  electrical  tension,  would 
be  drawn  upon  from  all  sides  to  equalize  the  distri- 
bution and  restore  the  general  average.  But  if  two 
bodies  occupy  the  same  field,  and  are  widely  differ- 
ent from  each  other  in  electrical  potential,  one 
higher  and  the  other  lower  than  that  of  space, 
this  distribution  will  be  towards  each  other,  and 
must  be  manifested  by  mutual  attraction.  But  if, 
on  the  contrary,  these  two  bodies  are  both  equally 
higher  or  lower  than  the  spatial  average,  they  have 
nothing  to  give  to  each  other,  but  have  this  differ- 
ence to  give  to  or  receive  only  from  outer  space, 
and  hence  they  will  be  drawn  apart  or,  as  we  say, 
mutually  repelled.  The  case  is  similar  to  what  we 
see  in  the  case  of  bodies  of  water  at  various  levels. 
Suppose  there  be  a  lake  of  a  fixed  level,  and  com- 
municating with  it  and  with  each  other,  by  open 
channels,  two  ponds  of  water  occupying  an  island 
in  the  middle  of  the  lake.  If  one  of  these  ponds 
be  higher  in  level  and  the  other  lower  than  the 
lake,  their  waters  will  rapidly  converge,  the  higher 
flowing  into  the  lower ;  but  if  both  are  at  the  same 
level,  and  higher  than  the  lake,  they  will  flow  apart 
into  the  lake.  Or,  if  both  are  at  the  same  level,  and 
lower  than  the  lake,  the  water  of  the  latter  will 
equally  flow  from  outside  into  both  ponds,  and 
their  waters  will  still  be  held  separate  from  each 
other.  The  analogies  of  these  various  levels  may 
be  pursued  to  any  desired  extent,  as  electrical  ten- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  127 

sions  find  their  most  exact  analogies  in  the  pressures 
of  bodies  of  water  at  different  levels  and  of  differ- 
ent quantities,  and  these  analogies  are  those  most 
constantly  used  in  the  interpretation  of  such  elec- 
trical phenomena. 

The  great  electrical  activity  of  the  electrospheres 
of  the  earth  and  moon,  while  they  discharge  their 
tremendous  currents  directly  into  the  sun,  at  the 
same  time  must  cause  their  similarly  electrified 
atmospheres  to  mutually  repel  each  other,  while 
gravity  continues  to  operate  to  maintain  the  earth 
and  moon  at  their  fixed  distances  from  each  other, 
and  to  retain  their  gaseous  envelopes  around  their 
own  bodies.  The  result  must  be  that  these  simi- 
larly electrified  atmospheres  repel  each  other  with 
a  force  proportioned  to  their  masses  of  atmosphere 
and  the  intensity  of  the  electricities  of  each.  The 
moon's  axial  rotation  being  completed  but  once  in 
twenty-eight  days,  and  that  of  the  earth  once  in 
each  day,  and  the  moon's  mass  and  volume  being 
so  much  less  than  those  of  the  earth,  whatever  of 
electrified  air  or  moisture  she  may  have  (and  she 
must  have  both,  proportionate  to  her  attributes) 
would  have  been  driven  as  by  a  cyclone  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  moon  and  there  retained. 
Now,  with  an  atmosphere  and  water  only  on  one 
side  of  the  moon,  and  that  the  side  opposite  the 
earth,  it  is  obvious  that  a  rotation  on  her  axis  at 
all  resembling  that  of  the  earth  would  carry  every 
part  of  her  surface,  at  each  complete  rotation,  from 
a  region  of  air  and  moisture  into  one  deprived  of 
both,  and  in  such  a  condition  she  would  of  necessity 


128    SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

be  deprived  of  both  life  and  its  possibility ;  hence, 
as  the  laws  of  nature  compel  the  lunar  atmosphere 
and  moisture  to  reside  permanently  on  the  side 
always  opposite  the  earth,  a  co-ordinate  arrest  of 
the  moon's  axial  motion  with  reference  to  the  earth 
could  alone  compensate  for  such  a  state  of  things, 
and,  curiously  enough,  we  find  as  a  solitary  excep- 
tion, compared  with  the  planets,  that  such  is  the 
case.  The  moon  unquestionably  has  both  atmos- 
phere and  water  on  its  opposite  side.  In  his  re- 
cent work,  "  In  the  High  Heavens,"  Professor  Ball 
reviews  the  physical  conditions  of  the  other  planets 
as  possible  abodes  of  life.  He  pronounces  against 
the  moon  because  night  and  day  would  each  be  a 
fortnight  in  length ;  but  this  is  surely  no  objection, 
for  even  in  Norway  and  Greenland  such  nights  and 
days  are  not  uncommon  at  different  seasons,  and 
thousands  of  human  beings,  even  as  at  present  con- 
stituted on  earth,  spend  their  lives  there  in  content 
and  happiness.  That  the  moon  also  would  be  ter- 
ribly scorched  by  the  long  day  and  frozen  by  the 
long  night  does  not  necessarily  follow,  for  the  at- 
mosphere of  Mars,  that  author  says,  "  to  a  large 
extent  mitigates  the  fierceness  with  which  the  sun's 
rays  would  beat  down  on  the  globe  if  it  were  devoid 
of  such  protection."  As  the  moon's  opposite  face 
must  have  a  double  quota  both  of  atmosphere  and 
clouds,  the  difficulty  will  be  correspondingly  less 
than  on  Mars ;  and  as  for  the  "  lightness"  of  bodies 
on  the  moon,  they  would  probably  get  along  quite 
as  well  as  mosquitoes  and  like  "  birds  of  prey"  in 
the  marshes  along  our  coasts.  The  author  refers 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY  129 

constantly  to  our  bodies ;  for  example,  "  Could  we 
live  on  a  planet  like  Neptune  ?"  No,  we  could  not ; 
we  would  be  dead  before  we  got  there.  Nor  could 
we  live  in  the  bark  of  a  tree,  or  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean,  or  in  a  globule  of  serum;  but  living 
beings  are  found  there  nevertheless.  The  principle 
is  that  wherever  life  is  possible  there  we  may  ex- 
pect to  find  life ;  and  surely  life  is,  or  has  been,  or 
will  be  possible,  not  only  on  the  moon,  so  far  as  our 
knowledge  of  physical  conditions  can  go,  but  also 
on  some  of  the  other  planets.  Of  course  each 
planet  has  its  life  stage,  but  this  applies  not  only 
to  the  earth,  but  to  all  the  other  planets  as  well, 
and  not  only  to  the  planets  of  our  own  system,  but 
to  those  of  all  other  solar  systems.  Each  has  had, 
or  will  have,  its  stage  in  which  life  is  possible,  and 
these  planets  may  be  like  human  habitations,  in 
which  whole  races  at  times  migrate  from  one  home 
to  another.  There  is  no  conceivable  reason  why 
this  may  not  be  the  general  law  of  creation,  and 
every  analogy  leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  so. 

It  has  been  recently  announced  that,  from  tele- 
scopic observations,  the  atmosphere  of  Mars  must 
be  at  least  as  attenuated  as  that  among  the  highest 
mountainous  regions  of  the  earth,  if  this  planet  has 
any  atmosphere  at  all.  That  it  must  be  far  less 
dense  than  that  of  the  earth  at  sea-level  is  obvious, 
for  the  mass  and  volume  of  Mars  are  very  much 
less  than  those  of  our  own  planet ;  but  that  Mars  is 
devoid  of  a  gaseous  envelope  or  atmosphere  is  con- 
trary to  what  we  know  of  all  sidereal  physics.  The 
sun,  the  fixed  stars,  the  comets,  the  nebulae,  and 


130     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

even  the  meteorolithic  fragments  which  fall  upon 
the  earth,  all  show  the  same  elementary  chemical 
constitution  as  the  earth  itself,  and  we  cannot  be- 
lieve that  Mars  alone  is  differently  constituted  from 
every  other  body  we  have  been  able  to  examine.  We 
have  direct  evidence,  on  this  planet,  of  polar  snows 
and  their  melting  away  under  the  sun's  heat;  we  see 
the  apparent  areas  of  sea  and  land;  it  has  its  moons 
as  the  earth  has  hers,  and  exhibits  all  the  charac- 
teristic phenomena  of  the  earth  and  other  planets. 
All  sidereal  bodies  that  we  know  of,  except,  per- 
haps, our  moon,  which  exception  we  have  fully 
accounted  for,  are  found  to  be  surrounded  by  gas- 
eous envelopes  or  atmospheres  of  some  sort.  The 
sun,  the  fixed  stars,  the  nuclei  of  comets,  the  con- 
densing nebulae,  the  planets  Jupiter  and  the  earth, 
which  are  those  under  our  most  direct  observation, 
and  even  the  meteorites,  when  examined,  reveal  the 
presence  of  many  times  their  own  volumes  of  inde- 
pendent atmospheric  gases ;  and  whatever  may  be 
the  theory  of  the  origin  or  development  of  Mars, 
it  must  have  been  subjected  to  the  same  influences, 
the  same  environment,  and  the  same  processes  of 
creation  as  those  of  our  solar  system  generally; 
and  that  this  body  alone  should  possess  no  gaseous 
envelope — for  the  denial  of  atmosphere  denies,  at 
the  same  time,  the  presence  of  any  or  all  surround- 
ing gases — is  quite  incredible.  Only  the  most  posi- 
tive, direct,  and  long-continued  proofs  of  such  fact 
could  be  accepted,  and  even  then  the  history  of  all 
scientific  progress  shows  that  what  are  believed  to 
be  facts  themselves  fluctuate  like  fancies  till,  by 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  131 

their  accumulated  force,  they  solidify  into  univer- 
sally accepted  demonstration.  The  fact,  moreover, 
that  the  atmospheres  of  the  smaller  planets  are 
more  attenuated  than  our  own  and  those  of  the 
larger  ones  denser  has  no  bearing,  in  itself,  on  the 
probability  of  the  existence  of  life  on  these  other 
planets,  for  in  our  own  atmosphere  oxygen,  which 
is  the  efficient  element,  is  diluted  with  four  times 
its  quantity  of  inert  nitrogen.  These  proportions 
doubtless  vary  largely  in  other  atmospheres,  so  that 
the  oxygen  may  be  much  richer  in  some  and  far 
poorer,  relatively,  in  others.  The  mere  fact  that 
the  presence  of  nitrogen,  probably,  and  aqueous 
vapor,  certainly,  depends  on  the  gravity  of  the 
mass  of  each  planet,  while  the  oxygen  is  due  to 
electrolytic  decomposition  induced  by  the  combined 
volume,  mass,  and  rotation,  and  other  causes,— such 
as  the  axial  inclination  of  such  planets,  for  example, 
— renders  these  variations  in  the  constitution  of 
planetary  atmospheres  a  certainty.  As  Mars  has 
a  diameter  much  more  than  one-half  that  of  the 
earth,  and  a  diurnal  rotational  period  nearly  the 
same,  while  his  mass,  which  controls  the  action  of 
gravity,  is  only  about  one-ninth  that  of  the  earth 
(see  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia),  it  is  obvious  that  his 
oxygen-gathering  power,-  compared  with  that  for 
accumulating  nitrogen  and  aqueous  vapor,  is  much 
higher  than  that  of  the  earth,  and  we  should  expect 
to  find  there  an  attenuated  atmosphere  very  rich  in 
oxygen,  and  with  a  relatively  smaller  proportion  of 
aqueous  vapor,  or  even  water,  on  his  surface.  Such 
seem  to  be  the  facts  as  far  as  observed. 


132     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

In  operating  an  electric  machine  the  strength  of 
the  current  is  directly  proportionate  to  the  speed 
of  rotation, — that  is  to  say,  to  the  velocity  of  the 
generating  surface ;  for  example,  of  the  Wimshurst 
induction  machine  it  is  stated  (page  63,  "  Electricity 
in  the  Service  of  Man"),  "  These  four-and-one-half 
inch  discharges  take  place  in  regular  succession  at 
every  two  and  a  half  turns  of  the  handle."  It  is  also 
a  well-established  law  of  electrolysis  that  "  The 
amount  of  decomposition  effected  by  the  current 
is  in  proportion  to  the  current  strength."  Profes- 
sor Ferguson  ("  Electricity,"  page  225)  says  of  the 
voltameter,  an  instrument  devised  by  Faraday,  and 
used  for  testing  the  strength  of  currents  by  the 
proportionate  decomposition  of  acidulated  water, 
"  Mixed  gases  rise  into  the  tube,  and  the  quantity  of 
gas  given  off  in  a  given  time  measures  the  strength  of  the 
current."  Roughly  estimating  the  diameter  of  Mars 
at  five-eighths,  the  surface  velocity  at  three-fifths, 
and  the  mass  at  one-ninth  those  of  the  earth,  this 
planet  should  have  an  atmosphere  containing  about 
sixty  per  cent,  of  oxygen  and  forty  of  nitrogen, 
with  a  barometric  pressure  at  sea-level  of  about  six 
and  one-half  inches  of  mercury.  This  would  be  an. 
excellent  atmosphere, — about  equal  in  its  quota  of 
oxygen  for  each  respiration  to  that  of  the  higher 
areas  of  Persia,  a  great  country  for  roses.  The 
aqueous  vapors  lying  low  and  near  the  surface 
would  serve  as  a  vaporous  screen  to  concentrate 
and  retain  the  sun's  heat  and  retard  radiation  from 
that  planet.  Nothing  in  particular  seems  to  be  the 
matter  with  Mars. 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  133 

On  the  contrary,  the  mass  of  Jupiter  is  so  great, 
and  his  attraction  of  gravity  so  powerful,  that  it 
is  only  by  his  exceedingly  rapid  diurnal  rotation 
(once  in  less  than  ten  hours)  that  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  accumulate  any  effective  percentage  of  oxy- 
gen at  all.  But  there  is  certainly  plenty  of  water 
there. 

We  may  approximately  compute,  in  general 
terms,  the  proportion  of  oxygen  in  the  atmos- 
pheres of  the  other  planets  in  the  same  way. 
Neptune,  it  is  true,  is  so  far  distant  from  the  sun 
that  the  solar  orb  only  "appears  about  the  same 
magnitude  as  Venus  when  at  its  greatest  brilliancy, 
as  viewed  from  the  earth,"  but  we  must  not  for- 
get that  "  the  intensity  of  the  sun's  light  would  be 
more  than  ten  thousand  times  greater  than  that  of 
Venus"  (Professor  Dunkin,  in  "  The  Midnight 
Sky").  Unless  the  moon  gathers  a  portion  of  the 
earth's  oxygen  (the  planetary  satellites,  like  Saturn's 
rings,  thus  constituting  in  their  rotations  a  constit- 
uent part  of  the  planets  themselves),  the  percentage 
of  this  gas  in  her  atmosphere  must  be  exceedingly 
small,  for  her  axial  rotation  has  a  period  of  a  whole 
lunar  month,  being  the  same  as  that  of  her  revolu- 
tion around  the  earth  as  a  center. 

The  absence  of  apparent  atmosphere  and  moist- 
ure from  the  visible  lunar  surface  has  already  been 
mentioned  and  explained.  The  means  by  which 
this  fact  has  been  approximately  determined  are 
described  by  Professor  Dunkin,  in  "  The  Midnight 
Sky,"  as  follows :  "  Among  the  many  proofs  of 
the  non-existence  of  a  lunar  atmosphere,  it  may 

12 


134     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

be  mentioned  that  no  water  can  be  seen ;  ,at  least 
there  is  not  a  sufficient  quantity  in  any  one  spot  so 
as  to  be  visible  from  the  earth.  Again,  there  are 
no  clouds ;  for  if  there  were,  we  should  immedi- 
ately discover  them  by  the  variable  light  and  shade 
which  they  would  produce.  But  one  great  proof 
of  the  absence  of  any  large  amount  of  vapor  being 
suspended  over  the  lunar  surface  is  the  sudden 
extinction  of  a  star  when  occulted  by  the  moon. 
The  author  has  been  a  constant  observer  of  these 
phenomena,  and,  though  his  experience  is  of  long 
standing,  he  has  never  observed  an  occultation  of 
a  star  or  planet,  especially  at  the  unilluminated  edge 
of  a  young  moon,  without  having  his  conviction 
confirmed  that  there  is  no  appreciable  lunar  atmos- 
phere. .  .  .  Professor  Challis  has  subjected  the' 
results  of  a  large  number  of  these  observations 
to  a  severe  mathematical  test,  but  he  has  not  been 
able  to  discover  the  slightest  trace  of  any  effect 
produced  by  a  lunar  atmosphere." 

In  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  article  "  The  Moon," 
it  is  stated  that  "  Schroter  (about  1800)  claimed  to 
have  discovered  indications  of  vegetation  on  the 
surface  of  the  moon.  These  consist  of  certain 
traces  of  a  greenish  tint  which  appear  and  reap- 
pear periodically ;  much  as  the  white  spots  cover- 
ing the  polar  regions  of  Mars.  .  .  .  As  we  are 
able,  under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  to  use 
upon  the  moon  telescopic  powers  which  have  the 
effect  of  bringing  the  satellite  to  within  one  hun  - 
dred  and  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of 
us,  we  should  doubtless  notice  any  such  marked 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  135 

changes  on  her  surface  as  the  passage  of  the 
seasons  produces,  for  example,  on  our  own  globe." 
Very  recently  (August  12, 1894),  it  has  heen  stated, 
Professor  Gathmann  has  observed  a  peculiar  green 
spot  about  forty  by  seventy  miles  in  area  near  the 
crater  of  Tycho  Brahe,  "  on  the  northwestern  edge 
of  the  satellite's  upper  limb,"  which  had  disap- 
peared twenty-two  hours  afterwards. 

We  understand,  of  course,  that  the  moon's  libra- 
tions,  by  the  variation  of  position  of  the  lunar  body, 
enable  us  to  see,  at  times,  around  the  edge  of  this 
satellite  somewhat,  so  that,  instead  of  observing 
only  one-half,  we  can  in  this  way  see  nearly  six- 
tenths  of  her  surface,  but  not  at  the  same  time,  of 
course.  When  the  moon  is  dark  it  occupies  a 
position  between  the  earth  and  the  sun,  and  only 
its  opposite  face  is  illuminated.  In  this  position 
the  attraction  of  solar  gravity  and  the  attraction 
of  the  electrically  opposite  solar  electrosphere  both 
accumulate  their  forces  upon  the  moon's  atmos- 
phere in  the  same  line  as  the  repulsion  of  the 
earth's  similar  electricity,  so  that  the  lunar  moist- 
ure and  atmosphere  are,  at  this  part  of  her  sub- 
ordinate orbit,  most  powerfully  forced  away  from 
the  direction  of  the  earth.  As  the  moon  now 
proceeds  towards  her  first  quarter,  the  terrestrial 
repulsion  drives  her  atmosphere  radially  outward, 
while  solar  gravity  and  electrical  attraction  tend  to 
hold  it  in  the  direction  of  the  sun.  The  result  will 
be  an  electrospheric  libration,  so  to  speak,  and  the 
moon's  atmosphere  and  moisture  will  be  carried 
around  towards  its  illuminated  face  and,  to  some 


136     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

extent,  will  overlap  the  area  of  terrestrial  repulsion. 
But  as  the  moon  advances  this  will  gradually 
diminish,  soon  cease,  and  finally  be  reversed  as  it 
again  approaches  darkness.  We  can  now  under- 
stand why  the  green  surface,  if  it  really  was  due 
to  vegetation,  appeared  along  the  lunar  margin  at 
the  time  described  above,  and  also  that  the  obser- 
vation of  planetary  occultations  "  at  the  unillumi- 
nated  edge  of  the  young  moon"  was  the  very  worst 
part  of  the  moon  and  its  orbit  in  which  to  look  for 
air  or  moisture ;  as  the  sun's  influence  is  then  di- 
rectly away  from  the  unilluminated  surface  of  the 
moon,  and  his  "pull"  would  have,  in  fact,  still 
further  denuded  the  very  portion  most  persistently 
examined,  and  where  this  absence  of  atmosphere 
was  especially  noted. 

When  considering  the  transference  of  energy 
from  the  peripheral  regions  of  the  solar  system  to 
the  center,  its  conversion  there  into  a  new  form  of 
molecular  force,  and  its  subsequent  distribution,  we 
find  a  curious  and  instructive  parallel  in  the  action 
of  the  reflex  nervous  system  of  animal  life.  This 
system  is  one  in  which  the  brain  or  other  conscious 
center  of  nerve-energy  takes  no  part.  Tickle  the 
foot  of  a  child,  for  example,  and  its  whole  muscu- 
lar system  is  thrown  into  uncontrollable  convul- 
sions of  laughter.  Here  an  exciting  contact  with 
the  terminal  filaments  of  the  afferent  or  sensory 
nerves  is  rapidly  carried  into  the  local  nerve-center 
of  this  part  of  the  system, — that  is,  the  sensory  col- 
umn of  the  spinal  cord.  This  center  of  ganglionic 
nerve-matter  lies  directly  against  the  corresponding 


THE  SOURCE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY.  137 

motor  mass,  both  freely  communicating  with  each 
other.  The  sensory  current  passing  into  its  central 
ganglion  undergoes  some  peculiar  change  of  char- 
acter, probably  one  of  intensification,  such  as  is 
observed  in  the  action  of  the  condenser  of  an  elec- 
trical machine,  through  which  sensory  ganglion, 
thus  raised  in  potential,  it  passes  to  the  motor  gan- 
glion adjacent,  where  it  is  instantly  transformed 
into  an  entirely  different  form  of  energy.  The 
sensory  character  has  now  entirely  disappeared, 
and  it  has  been  converted  into  and  is  flashed  forth 
as  motor  energy  to  the  different  muscles  of  the 
body,  which  are  immediately  contracted,  the  vio- 
lent molecular  motion  of  the  fibres  being  at  once 
converted  into  muscular  motion  in  mass.  The 
changes  are  entirely  analogous  to  those  we  see  in 
the  different  conversions  of  energy  in  our  solar 
system.  Considering  the  surface  of  the  body  as  a 
planetary  electrosphere,  it  is  acted  upon  by  excita- 
tion from  without;  currents  of  energy  are  engen- 
dered, which  are  at  once  transmitted  to  the  sensory 
ganglion,  corresponding  to  the  hydrogen  atmos- 
phere or  electrosphere  of  the  sun;  intensification 
of  action  here  ensues,  the  current  passing  through 
this  ganglion  or  atmosphere  into  the  solar  body 
itself,  which  corresponds  to  the  motor  ganglion; 
both  ganglia  are  now  highly  excited ;  the  electrical 
force  is  converted  into  the  radiant  molecular  motor 
energy  of  heat  and  light  in  the  sun  and  muscular 
excitement  in  the  body,  and  these  are  flashed  forth 
and  find  scope  for  their  action  within  the  body  of 
the  subject  or  upon  the  surface  of  the  planets,  which 

12* 


138     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

lie,  like  the  muscular  structure  of  the  body,  within 
the  genetic  electrosphere  where,  acted  upon  from 
without  and  by  agencies  entirely  external,  moving 
contact  has  induced  the  primary  molecular  action, 
which  was  then  instantaneously  transferred  to  the 
center,  there  converted  into  another  form,  that  of 
motor  energy,  and  thence  sent  forth  to  produce 
action  in  the  muscles  of  the  body  in  the  one  case, 
and  in  the  other  upon  the  planetary  bodies  and 
their  satellites  and  other  structures  which  occupy 
surrounding  space. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   DISTRIBUTION   AND   CONSERVATION   OF   SOLAR 
ENERGY. 

WHAT,  then,  becomes  of  the  light  and  heat 
flashed  forth  with  eternal  energy  from  the  fiery 
waves  of  the  sun's  incandescent  atmosphere  ?  Pro- 
fessor Ball  ("  In  the  High  Heavens")  says,  "  Much 
of  what  has  been  said  with  regard  to  light  may  be 
repeated  with  regard  to  heat.  We  know  that  ra- 
diant heat  consists  of  ethereal  undulations  of  the 
same  character  as  the  waves  of  light.  Hence  we 
see  that  the  heat  or  the  light  radiated  from  a  glow- 
ing gas  is  mainly  provided  at  the  expense  of  the 
energy  possessed  by  the  molecules  in  virtue  of 
their  internal  oscillations."  Conversely,  of  course, 
the  ethereal  undulations  thus  induced  by  high 
molecular  motion  in  the  heated  gas  or  vapor  must 
disappear  in  so-called  absorption  or  transference 
by  contact  with  other  molecules,  themselves  devoid 
of  such  specific  internal  oscillations.  The  heat  mo- 
tion then  disappears  as  heat  by  its  conversion  into 
work,  just  as  the  motion  of  a  belt  in  a  mill  disap- 
pears in  the  work  of  the  machine  which  it  drives. 
One  two-hundred-and-thirty-two-millionth  part  of 
the  radiant  solar  energy,  we  know,  is  caught  by 
the  flying  planets  of  our  system  in  the  forms  of 
heat  and  light,  adapted  to  sustain  life  and  its  con- 

139 


140     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

tinned  potentiality,  and  we  know  that  this  solar 
energy  is  the  sole  source  of  all  the  development 
and  maintenance  of  the  planets  as  the  possible 
abodes  of  organic  life,  past,  present  or  future. 

But  what  of  the  vast  total,  of  which  we  consume 
so  minute  a  fraction  ?  It  is  true  that,  in  addition 
to  the  planets,  space  is  occupied  by  many  small 
meteoric  bodies,  which  manifest  themselves  to  us 
as  shooting  stars  and  meteorites,  but  the  mass  of 
these  is  too  trifling  to  be  estimated.  Professor 
Helmholtz,  in  his  "Popular  Scientific  Lectures," 
says,  "  According  to  Alexander  Herschel's  esti- 
mates, each  stone  is,  on  an  average,  at  a  distance 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  its  neighbors." 
"When  these  bodies  enter  our  atmosphere  by  force 
of  the  earth's  attraction  they  are  heated  by  its  at- 
mospheric friction  to  incandescence,  and  in  most 
cases  are  even  volatilized  before  reaching  the  earth's 
surface.  The  vast  volumes  of  solar  heat  and  light, 
however,  are  poured  forth  from  the  sun  indiscrimi- 
nately in  all  directions  into  illimitable  space,  wherein 
all  the  masses  of  concrete  matter,  including  the  stars, 
are  relatively  far  less  in  volume  than  the  flying 
motes  of  the  purest  morning  air  which  sparkle  in 
the  flood  of  light  sent  forth  by  the  rising  sun.  Is 
all  the  rest  wasted  ?  Professor  Balfour  Stewart,  in 
his  work  "  The  Conservation  of  Energy,"  says, 
"  If  this  be  the  fate  of  the  high-temperature  energy 
of  the  universe,  let  us  think  for  a  moment  what  will 
happen  to  its  visible  energy.  We  have  spoken 
already  about  a  medium  pervading  space,  the  office 
of  which  appears  to  be  to  degrade  and  ultimately 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          141 

extinguish  all  differential  motion,  just  as  it  tends 
to  reduce  and  ultimately  equalize  all  difference  in 
temperature.  Thus,  the  universe  would  ultimately 
become  an  equally  heated  mass,  utterly  worthless 
as  far  as  the  production  of  work  is  concerned,  since 
such  production  depends  upon  difference  of  tem- 
perature." 

It  is  obvious  that  the  starting-point  taken  by  the 
author  last  quoted,  but  which,  nevertheless,  is  in 
accordance  with  the  views  now  generally  prevalent, 
is  diametrically  opposed  to  that  sought  to  be  estab- 
lished in  this  work.  Professor  Stewart  takes  the 
sun's  inherent  energy  as  the  initial  point  of  de- 
parture, and  reasons  from  that  as  to  the  final  con- 
sequence when  all  its  light  and  heat  shall  have 
been  distributed  or  dissipated  into  the  attenuated 
medium  which  occupies  space,  and  which  will  be 
thus  slowly  heated  until  all  space  has  been  raised 
in  temperature  to  that  of  the  last  dying  sun,  when 
all  will  thenceforth  remain  unchanged  and  un- 
changeable, silent,  dark,  and  dead,  to  all  eternity. 
On  the  contrary,  the  purpose  of  the  present  work 
is  to  establish  a  directly  opposite  principle,  based, 
however,  on  demonstrated  scientific  facts  and  not 
on  theory,  that  the  medium  which  pervades  all 
space  was  originally  in  the  same  equally  and  uni- 
versally potential  state  (with  its  molecules  raised  to 
a  tension  constituting  an  unstable  equilibrium)  in 
which,  practically,  Professor  Stewart's  argument 
leaves  it  finally,  and  that  this  universal  molecular 
energy  of  position  was  permanently  maintained  by 
the  employment  of  the  forces  which  afterwards, 


142     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

transformed  into  light  and  heat,  were  shed  abroad 
by  the  sun  in  the  work  of  again  overcoming  the 
intermolecular  tension  of  cohesion,  and  that  the 
light  and  heat  of  the  sun  are  merely  caught  up 
again  by  these  same  or  other  molecules  and  suc- 
cessively employed  in  the  same  manner,  while  the 
planetary  electrospheres  utilize  these  same  forces 
of  internal  tension  in  the  generation  of  electricity, 
which,  sent  to  the  sun,  is  converted  into  light  and 
heat,  and  these  are  again  transferred  to  their  orig- 
inal source.  The  rotation  of  the  planets  is  the 
grand  exciting  cause,  and  the  process,  in  its  com- 
plete cycle  of  development,  has  five  stages :  first, 
planetary  generation ;  second,  transference  by  cur- 
rents of  electricity  to  the  sun;  third,  conversion 
into  light  and  heat;  fourth,  emission;  and,  fifth, 
reabsorption  and  conversion  again  into  molecular 
energy  of  position.  All  space  is  thus  found  to  be 
pervaded  by  extremely  attenuated  vapors,  which 
contain  the  elemental  constituents  out  of  which  suns 
and  planets  are  evolved  under  favorable  circum- 
stances of  development,  and,  among  other  vapors, 
aqueous  vapor,  and  that  these  are  the  agency  upon 
which  the  planetary  electrospheres  operate  in  their 
generation  of  electrical  currents,  and  which  vapors, 
in  turn,  by  absorption  of  the  solar  energy  of  radi- 
ation, again  transform  this  energy  into  mutually 
balanced  electric  potential,  until  it  is  once  more 
disengaged  as  electricity  by  the  rotating  planetary 
electrospheres,  and  so  on  in  a  constant  circuit  for- 
ever repeated.  It  differs  from  perpetual  motion, 
however,  in  that  the  planetary  rotation  is  the  ex- 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          143 

ternal  and  not  the  internal  generative  cause,  since 
the  electrical  forces  neither  cause  nor  control  these 
motions ;  they  belong  to  the  realm  of  gravity.  The 
disassociation,  moreover,  is  electrical  and  not  chem- 
ical disassociation.  The  tensions  are  against  cohe- 
sion and  not  against  chemical  affinity ;  are,  in  fact, 
similar  to  those  which  constitute  our  atmosphere  a 
vast  electrical  reservoir;  and  the  aqueous  vapors, 
through  all  their  changes,  permanently  remain  as 
aqueous  vapors,  except  those  condensed  portions 
disassociated  by  electrolytic  action  at  the  electro- 
spheric  poles,  and  which  have  no  relation  to  the 
attenuated  vapors  of  space,  except  in  that  the  latter 
are  their  sources  of  supply.  The  process  is  analo- 
gous to  what  we  see  around  us  at  all  times  in  the 
atmosphere.  "While  the  process  described  by  Pro- 
fessor Stewart  resembles  the  emptying  of  the  in- 
herent water  of  a  cloud,  in  the  form  of  rain,  into 
an  ocean  which  never  yields  up  its  water  again,  so 
that,  when  the  cloud  has  rained  itself  out,  it  is  gone 
forever,  the  processes  here  sketched  are  like  the 
vapors  which  are  caught  up  by  the  heated  air,  car- 
ried over  the  thirsty  lands,  distributed  in  rain  to 
fertilize  and  vivify  them,  then  gathered  in  a  thou- 
sand tiny  rills  from  countless  fountains,  again  de- 
scending to  the  sea  and  again  carried  up  in  vapor, 
and  so  on  over  and  over  in  unceasing  round.  It  is 
the  difference  between  an  old-fashioned  flintlock 
musket  and  a  modern  magazine  ride,  except  that 
the  magazine  is  always  full. 

This    great    ocean    of  space   was    primordially 
charged   with   these  potential  vapors ;    it   is  the 


144     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

constitution  of  space  itself.  We  are  so  accustomed 
to  consider  space  as  empty,  and  that  it  is  nothing- 
ness, the  antithesis  of  something  or  anything,  that 
it  is  a  negation  or  a  blank,  that  it  requires  an  effort 
to  even  think  of  it  as  a  fully  stocked  establishment 
with  all  the  goods  necessary  for  use  or  ornament,  in 
the  latest  styles  and  of  prime  quality,  only  not  made 
up,  and  that  all  our  suns  and  worlds  are  merely 
tailoring  establishments  where  the  operatives  cut 
and  fit  and  make  them  up  to  order.  When  more 
goods  are  wanted  they  have  to  go  to  the  store. 

Is  space,  then,  eternal,  and  is  this  constant  round 
of  energies  to  be  eternal  ?  If  one  is  eternal,  so  is 
the  other,  and  surely  nothing  can  be  more  eternal 
than  space,  and  we  cannot  conceive  of  any  other 
space  than  this  space.  Out  of  it  came  all  created 
things,  and  so  long  as  the  orbs  rotate  without  re- 
tardation, so  long  will  these  interchanges  go  on 
without  impairment,  and  that  they  do  so  rotate  is 
the  necessary  corollary  of  the  fact  that  they  ever 
began  to  rotate.  If  rotation,  on  the  contrary,  was 
imparted  by  special  creative  power,  then  the  same 
power  established  the  laws  by  which  they  rotate, 
and  took  cognizance  of  resistance  as  well.  What- 
ever the  impulse  was,  it  still  remains;  whatever 
caused  the  rotation  to  begin  maintains  it;  if  the 
cause  is  eternal  the  rotation  may  be  eternal ;  and, 
in  any  case,  its  period  must  be  measured  by  cycles 
of  seons,  to  which  the  allotted  lifetime  of  a  dying 
sun — a  few  million  years,  perhaps — is  but  as  the 
sunburst  of  a  morning-glory  flower  to  the  hoary 
age  of  a  mighty  planet.  Compared  with  the  popu- 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          145 

lar  view  of  the  sun's  life-period,  we  may  formulate 
the  terms  of  an  equation  in  which  the  sun's  mass, 
compared  with  the  realms  of  infinite  space,  is  as 
the  sun's  lifetime — on  a  basis  of  contraction  of  his 
volume — to  the  lifetime  which  actually  is  to  be. 
As  one  of  the  terms  is  practically  infinite,  so  must 
be  the  answer  to  the  problem.  Professor  Stewart 
says,  "We  cannot  help  believing  that  there  is  a 
material  medium  of  some  kind  between  the  sun 
and  the  earth;  indeed,  the  undulatory  theory  of 
light  requires  this  belief."  It  has  already  been 
shown  that  the  transmission  of  electricity  also  re- 
quires it,  but  that  there  must  be  a  medium  quite 
different  from  the  undulatory  ether.  Professor 
Proctor  ("Mysteries  of  Time  and  Space")  says, 
"  We  may  admit  the  possibility  that  the  aqueous 
vapor  and  carbon  compounds  are  present  in  stellar 
or  interplanetary  space."  Again  he  says,  "As- 
suming, as  we  well  may,  that  space  is  really  occu- 
pied by  attenuated  vapors."  The  same  writer  says 
further,  "  To  this  end  all  thoughtful  study  of  the 
mechanism  seems  to  tend  (associating,  perhaps,  our 
visible  universe  with  others,  permeating  it  as  the 
ether  of  space  permeates  the  densest  solids,  and  in 
turn  with  others  so  permeated  by  it) ;  there  may  be 
that  constant  interchange,  that  perpetual  harmony, 
of  which  Goethe  sung : 

'  Balanced  worlds  from  change  defending, 
While  everywhere  diffused  is  harmony  unending.'  " 

The  light  and  heat  poured  forth  from  the  sun 
are,  as  stated,  in  the  form   of  radiated   energy. 
Q       k  13 


146     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

They  penetrate  the  attenuated  vapors  as  far  as 
vision  extends,  and  doubtless  farther,  but  they  can- 
not reach  the  boundaries  of  space,  for  even  the 
mind  of  man  cannot  reach  those  limits.  Aqueous 
vapor  absorbs  heat;  we  know  this  without  any 
demonstration,  for  the  radiated  heat  of  the  earth 
is  arrested  by  a  veil  of  clouds,  so  that  on  cloudy 
nights  frost  will  not  form.  So  also  the  sun  shining 
into  water  will  raise  its  temperature,  as  in  a  glass 
globe,  and  such  absorption  of  heat  by  aqueous 
vapors  or  water  would  be  much  more  manifest 
were  not  a  large  part  employed  in  loosening  the 
tension  of  the  constituent  molecules,  since,  when 
thus  employed,  it  is  not  manifest  as  sensible  heat. 
Professor  Tyndall,  in  "The  Forms  of  Water," 
states  that  "  The  quantity  of  heat  which  would 
raise  the  temperature  of  a  pound  of  water  one  de- 
gree would  raise  the  temperature  of  a  pound  of 
iron  ten  degrees."  Professor  Stewart,  in  "  The 
Conservation  of  Energy,"  says,  "  That  peculiar 
motion  which  is  imparted  by  heat  when  absorbed 
into  a  body  is,  therefore,  one  variety  of  molecular 
energy.  .  .  .  Part  of  the  energy  of  absorbed  heat 
is  spent  in  pulling  asunder  the  molecules  of  the 
body  under  the  attractive  force  which  binds  them 
together,  and  thus  a  store  of  energy  of  position  is 
laid  up,  which  disappears  again  after  the  body  is 
cooled. 

"  Heat  will  only  be  changed  into  work  while  it 
passes  from  a  body  of  high  temperature  to  one  of 
low.  .  .  .  At  very  high  temperatures  it  is  possible 
that  most  compounds  are  decomposed,  and  the 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          147 

temperature  at  which  this  takes  place,  for  any  com- 
pound, has  been  termed  its  temperature  of  disasso- 
ciation.  Heat  energy  is  changed  into  electrical  separa- 
tion when  tourmalines  and  certain  other  crystals 
are  heated."  It  may  be  added  that  it  is  also 
changed  into  electrical  energy  by  the  operation  of 
all  electrical  machines,  as  molecular  motions  are 
all  mutually  interconvertible,  and  heat  itself  is 
only  a  mode  of  such  motion.  Of  radiant  energy, 
the  same  writer  says,  "  This  form  of  energy  [radiant 
heat]  is  converted  into  absorbed  heat  whenever  it 
falls  upon  an  opaque  substance.  .  .  .  and  heats  it. 
It  is  a  curious  question  to  ask  what  becomes  of  the 
radiant  light  from  the  sun  that  is  not  absorbed  either 
by  the  planets  of  our  system  or  by  any  of  the  stars. 
We  can  only  reply  to  such  a  question  that,  as  far  as 
we  can  judge  from  our  present  knowledge,  the  radiant 
energy  that  is  not  absorbed  must  be  conceived  to 
be  traversing  space  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  thousand  miles  a  second." 

We  know,  of  course,  that  aqueous  vapors  are  par- 
tially opaque  to  heat  rays,  as  the  radiated  heat  of 
the  earth  is  partially  arrested  by  such  vapors  in  the 
atmosphere,  but  they  are  apparently  transparent  to 
the  rays  of  light.  But  we  know  that  this  cannot  be 
entirely  true  in  fact,  for  light  rays  only  differ  from 
heat  rays  in  the  comparative  length  of  their  waves 
or  impulses,  while  rays  of  light  are  always  accom- 
panied— when  emitted  by  a  thermally  incandescent 
body — by  a  much  larger  number  of  those  of  Jieat. 
As  a  body  is  raised  in  temperature  radiant  dark 
rays  first  appear ;  these  being  raised  higher,  become 


148      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

visible  as  light,  and  new  dark  rays  are  radiated  be- 
hind them,  and  this  continues  till  after  the  state  of 
highest  incandescence  is  reached  and  the  invisible 
chemical  rays  beyond  the  spectrum  appear.  It  is 
like  a  crowd  surging  forth  in  flight  from  the  doors 
of  a  building;  as  the  speed  of  those  in  front  in- 
creases to  a  run,  others  follow  more  slowly  in  the 
mass,  and  as  these  gain  speed  others  continue  to 
follow,  while  the  great  mass  of  laggards  still  trails 
along  in  a  lengthening  line  to  the  rear.  The  per- 
ception of  light  is  itself  merely  due  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  optic  apparatus  of  the  observer,  which 
only  takes  cognizance  of  vibrations  radiated  from 
the  middle  portion  of  the  scale,  just  as  the  ear  does 
with  sounds,  and  not  to  any  actual  difference  in 
their  mode  of  production.  That  heat  rays  and  light 
rays  are  identical  in  constitution  can  be  readily 
shown  by  the  experiment  described  by  Professor 
Tyndall  in  his  "Forms  of  Water,"  in  which  an 
opaque  screen  of  iodine  solution  in  bisulphide  of 
carbon  was  employed  to  arrest,  in  a  beam  of  light, 
all  the  light  waves  (to  which  it  is  entirely  opaque), 
while  transmitting  the  dark  rays.  These  non-lumi- 
nous rays  are  then  converged  by  a  lens  :  "  Let  us, 
then,  by  means  of  our  opaque  solution,  isolate  our 
dark  waves  and  converge  them  on  the  cotton.  It 
explodes  as  before.  .  .  .  At  the  same  dark  focus 
sheets  of  platinum  are  raised  to  vivid  redness ;  .  .  . 
a  diamond  is  caused  to  glow  like  a  star,  being  after- 
wards gradually  dissipated."  Sir  William  Herschel 
(see  article  "  Spectrum,"  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia) 
says,  "  If  we  call  light  those  rays  which  illuminate 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          149 

objects,  and  radiant  heat  those  which  heat  bodies, 
it  may  be  inquired  whether  light  be  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  radiant  heat.  In  answer  to  which  I 
would  suggest  that  we  are  not  allowed  by  the  rules 
of  philosophizing  to  admit  of  two  different  causes 
to  explain  certain  effects,  if  they  may  be  accounted 
for  by  one."  .  .  .  "  Tyndall,  by  similar  experiments, 
found  that  the  thermal  energy  of  the  invisible  radi- 
ation of  a  very  powerful  electric  light  is  eight  times 
that  of  the  visible.  .  .  .  Seebeck  showed  that  the 
position  of  maximum  heat  in  the  spectrum  changes 
with  the  nature  of  the  prism  and  sometimes  occurs 
in  the  red."  Melconi,  with  prisms  of  alcohol  and 
water,  found  it  in  the  yellow.  Athermic  bands  are 
also  found  in  the  heat-spectrum,  corresponding  to 
the  Fraunhofer  lines  seen  in  the  visible  spectrum. 

We  may  illustrate  this  successive  development 
of  more  and  more  rapid  light- waves  by  conceiving 
of  a  harp  having  musical  strings  of  various  length 
and  thickness,  but  not  strung  up,  so  that,  when 
swept  by  the  hand,  the  vibrations  are  felt,  but  no 
musical  tones  are  produced.  If,  now,  all  the  strings 
are  simultaneously  and  gradually  stretched  while 
under  continuous  vibration,  we  will  first  hear  the 
hum  of  the  lighter  strings,  but  deep  down  in  the 
scale;  and  as  the  tension  gradually  increases  the 
pitch  of  these  will  rise  higher  and  higher  and  be 
succeeded  by  other  new  tones  below,  until  the 
whole  register  is  simultaneously  sounded.  And 
if  the  tension  be  further  increased,  the  vibrations 
of  the  upper  strings  will  gradually  grow  so  rapid 
that  the  ear  can  take  no  cognizance  of  them,  cor- 

13* 


150     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY 

responding  to  the  invisible  chemical  rays  of  the 
spectrum,  while  the  middle  strings  will  be  sound- 
ing loudly,  and  others  will  be  slowly  vibrating 
below  the  musical  scale,  but  without  sound,  corre- 
sponding to  the  invisible  heat  rays.  In  addition  to 
this  gradual  ascent  of  pitch  along  the  scale,  how- 
ever, there  is  reason  to  believe  that  sympathetic 
vibrations  are  induced  in  the  spectrum  of  thermal 
and  chemical  light  corresponding  to  the  over-tones 
in  music  and  to  those  hidden  rhythms  which  differ- 
entiate the  "  timbre"  of  one  kind  of  musical  instru- 
ment from  that  of  another,  so  that  a  definite  wave- 
length will  not  only  repeat  itself  among  adjacent 
molecules,  but  will  give  rise  to  harmonious  vibra- 
tions quite  different  in  amplitude  and  velocity.  An 
example  of  this  is  found  in  some  of  the  phenomena 
of  phosphorescence  and  fluorescence,  in  which 
chemical  rays  totally  invisible  are  able,  under  suit- 
able conditions,  to  excite  molecular  movements  cor- 
responding to  parts  of  the  visible  spectrum,  and 
quite  different  in  wave-lengths  and  in  rapidity. 
This  process  is  precisely  the  converse  of  what  we 
perceive  in  thermal  light;  in  the  latter  case  the 
colors  ascend,  loaded  with  invisible  heat  rays;  in 
the  former  they  descend,  loaded  with  invisible 
chemical  rays,  only  noted,  perhaps,  by  their  actinic 
action  on  the  photographic  plate.  Others,  as  the 
sulphide  of  calcium  paints  and  the  like,  repeat  their 
own  vibrations  for  many  hours,  and  we  find  in  cer- 
tain chemical  salts  of  some  rare  metals,  as  lantha- 
num and  cerium,  the  curious  property  of  suddenly 
raising  the  whole  scale,  as  in  a  recently  introduced 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          151 

gas-lamp,  in  which  a  skeleton  mantle  of  these  ox- 
ides glows  with  a  wondrously  beautiful  white  light 
under  the  relatively  low  temperature  of  a  small 
Bunsen  burner ;  similar  phenomena  are  manifested 
in  the  behavior  of  electric  discharges  in  attenuated 
gases,  as  well  as  in  what  is  known  to  children  as 
"  fox-fire,"  wood  undergoing  slow  decomposition  in 
damp  places,  or  in  the  self-luminous  secretions  (cor- 
responding, perhaps,  to  ptomaines  or  like  products) 
of  glow-worms  and  other  animals.  If  we  ever — as 
we  probably  soon  shall — reach  that  point  where  we 
can  illuminate  our  dwellings  with  "  cold  candles," 
as  the  inhabitants  of  tropical  countries  carry  about 
a  few  fire-flies  in  a  paper  box  for  a  lantern  on  dark 
nights,  it  must  be  by  the  study  of  these  phenomena. 
But  meantime  "  Old  Sol"  will  continue  to  discharge 
his  accumulating  stores  of  both  heat  and  light,  for 
both  these  are  essential,  not  only  for  use  upon  the 
planets,  but  throughout  all  the  realms  of  space. 
In  the  transformation  into  and  emission  of  his 
radiant  energy  the  sun  is  not  a  chemical  engine, 
but  a  mill, — one  of  those  which  "  grind  slowly,  but 
they  grind  exceeding  small." 

The  diiference  between  radiated  thermal  light 
and  heat  is  obviously  one  of  degree  only  and  not 
of  kind.  The  undulations  of  light  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  thrust  of  a  rapier,  and  the  more 
massive  waves  of  radiant  heat  to  the  blow  of 
a  bludgeon,  but  the  same  resistance  which  arrests 
the  advance  of  the  one  must  retard  and  finally 
arrest  that  of  the  other,  if  sufficiently  extended. 
Within  the  limits  of  a  space  in  which  Professor 


152     SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Stewart  conceives  that  the  first  rays  of  light  which 
ever  flashed  forth  at  the  dawn  of  creation,  in  the 
primal  aeons  of  the  universe,  are  still  to  this  day, 
along  their  original  lines  of  radiation,  "  traversing 
space  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
thousand  miles  per  second,"  there  must  certainly 
be  room  enough  and  absorption  enough  (which 
even  a  few  yards  of  mist  will  supply)  to  curb  these 
runaway  steeds  somewhere  along  their  lines  of 
flaming  passage.  At  that  very  point  they  are  at 
work  acting  upon  the  molecules  of  the  attenuated 
vapors  of  space,  and  assisting  to  re-establish  the 
potential  energy  which  has  there  been  converted 
into  another  form  of  force  by  the  planetary  rota- 
tions of  the  solar  systems  of  those  distant  regions. 
By  the  law  of  the  diffusion  of  gases,  and  that  of 
the  diffusion  or  transference  of  heat-energy  from 
molecule  to  molecule,  the  vast  realms  of  interstellar 
space  must  tend  to  be  all  brought  into  approximate 
uniformity  of  tensions,  and  the  force  abstracted  at 
those  points  of  space  occupied  by  the  relatively  few 
and  insignificant  solar  systems  will  be  returned,  not 
directly  at  the  identical  places  where  such  solar 
systems  may  exist,  but  at  every  part  of  space  to 
which  their  radiant  energy  extends.  As  we  give 
from  our  own  supplies  to  other  systems  for  their 
support,  so  they,  in  turn,  give  back  again  to  us.  It 
is  said  that  in  the  earliest  days  of  creation  the  stars 
sang  together ;  they  still  sing  together,  planets  and 
suns,  as 

"  Jura  answers  from  her  misty  shroud 
Back  to  the  joyous  Alps,  who  call  to  her  aloud." 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          153 

When  old  Earth  lifts  his  brimming  beaker  from 
the  great  crystal  sea  and  drains  it  to  the  good 
health  of  all  the  stars  of  heaven,  they  each  respond 
with  fiery  energy,  and  by  their  merry  twinkle  we 
may  know  how  highly  they  appreciate  the  toast. 
We  are  all  one  family, — but  what  a  family! 
Comets,  planets,  double  stars,  variable  stars,  stars 
of  complementary  colors,  blue,  yellow,  orange,  and 
red  stars,  stars  which  blaze  up  in  sudden  confla- 
gration, apparently  new  stars,  nebulae  half  star  and 
half  vapor,  nebulae  all  vapor  and  others  all  stars,  the 
vast  milky-way  like  a  wondrous  river  of  hundreds 
of  millions  of  solar  systems,  the  insulated  stars 
scattered  through  space  like  watchmen  on  the  dis- 
tant hills  beyond  the  city  walls,  streams  of  stars, 
stars  which  are  parting  from  each  other  in  space 
like  scattering  families,  and  those  which  travel 
together  in  groups  like  pioneers  in  a  strange 
country, — all  these  and  doubtless  other  unknown 
types  and  forms  compose  this  sidereal  family. 
"Will  they  fall  into  their  categories  as  lawful  sub- 
jects, so  as  to  be  properly  classified  in  a  single 
scheme  of  the  visible  order  of  creation,  or  shall  we 
fail  to  interpret  their  apparent  mysteries  when  we 
apply  the  same  principles  which  have  been  suc- 
cessfully applied  to  the  phenomena  of  our  own 
solar  system  ?  Let  us  see. 

In  examining  the  sun,  we  find  that  a  beam  of 
its  light  passed  through  a  prism  is  thrown  upon 
the  wrall  in  a  wedge-shaped  streak  of  rainbow- 
tinted  colors.  Fraunhofer,  many  years  ago,  found 
that  this  spectrum  was  crossed  at  irregular  inter- 


154     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

vals  by  a  series  of  dark  lines,  of  variable  width 
and  distance  apart,  of  which  he  catalogued  more 
than  five  hundred.  These  lines  were  subsequently 
found  to  correspond  in  the  aggregate,  in  their  posi- 
tion in  the  spectrum,  with  a  series  of  bright  lines  of 
different  colors  which  formed  the  separate  spectra 
of  various  metals  when  burned,  in  vapor  or  pow- 
der, in  the  flame  of  an  alcohol  lamp.  Each  of 
these  transverse  lines  was  found  to  have  a  fixed 
and  invariable  position  in  the  extended  scale  of 
the  spectrum,  and  scarcely  any  lines  of  the  differ- 
ent elements  are  alike ;  so  that,  when  the  spectrum 
is  properly  magnified  under  telescopic  observation 
and  the  lines  identified,  we  have  the  means  of  de- 
termining the  presence  or  absence  of  such  elements 
in  the  vaporous  constitution  of  any  incandescent 
body  by  examination  of  its  spectrum.  In  this  way 
many  of  our  terrestrial  elements  are  found  to  exist 
in  the  sun, — so  many,  in  fact,  that  we  know  that 
the  sun's  nucleus,  or  core,  must  be  composed  sub- 
stantially of  the  same  elements,  the  same  sort  of 
matter,  as  exists  on  earth, — that  we  are,  in  fact, "  a 
chip  of  the  old  block."  But  it  was  found — and 
this  is  the  real  basis  of  spectrum  analysis — that  if 
a  certain  metal  or  other  element  be  burned  in  the 
flame  of  an  alcohol  lamp,  and  a  more  brilliant 
flame  of  the  same  metal  or  element  burned  in 
another  lamp  be  observed  through  the  first  flame, 
it  will  be  seen  that,  "  while  the  general  illumina- 
tion of  the  spectrum  is  increased,  the  previous 
bright  lines  characterizing  the  element  are  now 
replaced  by  dark  lines  or  lines  relatively  very 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION. 


155 


faint;  in  a  word,  the  spectrum  characteristic  of 
the  given  element  is  exactly  reversed"  (Appleton's 
Cyclopaedia,  article  "  Spectrum  Analysis").  We 
have  referred  to  this  fact  above  in  considering  the 
origin  of  sun-spots,  showing  that  they  are  due  to 
increased  heat  acting  upon  the  core  of  the  sun  so 
as  to  volatilize  an  abnormally  large  proportion  of 
the  elements  usually  in  a  more  condensed  state 
upon  the  surface  of  the  solar  body  beneath  its 
hydrogen  envelope.  These  vapors,  thus  raised  in 
temperature,  are  driven  upward  by  their  vola- 


Hydrogen  (  Ab&orpHonJpectrum) 


\ L 


Spectra  of  different  elements  compared  with  the  solar  spectrum,  and 
showing  reversal  of  hydrogen  lines  under  special  circumstances. 

tilization  into  the  incandescent  atmosphere  of 
hydrogen,  and  the  vaporous  matters  in  the  higher 
strata  thus  produce  the  characteristic  absorption 
bands  of  these  elements,  while  the  overheated 


156     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

vapors,  by  a  vast  uprush  from  beneath,  hurl  aside 
the  more  highly  heated  hydrogen  above  to  appear 
as  faculse  around  the  sun-spot,  the  cooler  upper 
layers  of  hydrogen  following  downward  the  sub- 
siding vaporous  metallic  uprush  as  it  sinks  back 
beneath  the  photospheric  level. 

It  is  obvious  that  by  similar  spectrum  analysis 
we  may  determine  to  a  large  extent  the  consti- 
tution of  the  fixed  stars  and  other  self-Juminous 
bodies  of  space  and  interpret  the  phenomena 
which  they  exhibit.  We  quote  the  following  from 
the  previously  cited  article  in  Appleton's  Cyclopae- 
dia, by  Professor  Proctor:  "  Spectroscopic  analysis 
applied  to  the  stars  has  shown  that  they  resemble 
the  sun  in  general  constitution  and  condition. 
But  characteristic  differences  exist,  insomuch  that 
the  stars  have  been  divided  into  four  orders  distin- 
guished by  their  spectra.  These  are  thus  presented 
by  Secchi,  who  examined  more  than  five  hundred 
star  spectra :  The  first  type  is  represented  by  Alpha 
Lyrae,  Sirius,  etc.,  and  includes  most  of  the  stars 
shining  with  a  white  light,  as  Altair,  Eegulus, 
Rigel,  the  stars  Beta,  Gamma,  Epsilon,  Zeta,  and 
Eta  of  Ursa  Major,  etc.  These  give  a  spectrum 
showing  all  the  seven  colors,  and  crossed  usually 
by  many  lines,  but  always  by  the  four  lines  of  hydro- 
gen, very  dark  and  strong.  The  breadth  of  these 
four  lines  indicates  a  very  deep,  absorptive  stratum 
at  a  high  temperature  and  at  great  pressure. 
Nearly  half  the  stars  observed  by  Secchi  [more  than 
two  hundred  out  of  five  hundred]  showed  this 
spectrum.  The  second  type  includes  most  of  the 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          157 

yellow  stars,  as  Capella,  Pollux,  Arcturus,  Alde- 
baran,  Alpha  of  Ursa  Major,  Procyon,  etc.  The 
Fraunhofer  lines  are  well  seen  in  the  red  and  blue, 
but  not  so  well  in  the  yellow.  The  resemblance  of 
this  spectrum  to  the  sun  suggests  that  stars  of  this 
type  resemble  the  sun  closely  in  physical  constitu- 
tion and  condition.  About  one-third  of  the  stars 
observed  by  Secchi  [more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  out  of  five  hundred]  showed  this  spectrum. 
The  third  type  includes  Antares,  Alpha  of  Orion, 
and  Alpha  of  Hercules,  Beta  of  Pegasus,  Mira, 
and  most  of  the  stars  shining  with  a  red  light. 
The  spectra  show  bands  of  lines;  according  to 
Secchi,  there  are  shaded  bands,  but  a  more  power- 
ful spectroscope  shows  multitudes  of  fine  lines. 
The  spectra  resemble  somewhat  the  spectrum  of  a 
sun-spot,  and  Secchi  has  advanced  the  theory  that 
these  stars  are  covered  in  great  part  by  spots  like 
those  of  the  sun.  About  one  hundred  [out  of  five 
hundred]  of  the  observed  stars  belong  to  this  type." 
(It  should  be  noted  that  the  presence  of  sun-spots 
is  no  evidence  of  diminished  heat  in  a  sun;  see 
Professor  Proctor  in  his  "  Myths  and  Marvels  of 
Astronomy,"  article  "  Suns  in  Flames  :"  "  It  may  be 
noticed,  in  passing,  that  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  the  time  when  the  sun  is  most  spotted  is  the 
time  when  he  gives  out  least  light.  .  .  .  All  the 
evidence  we  have  tends  to  show  that  when  the  sun 
is  most  spotted  his  energies  are  most  active.  It  is 
then  that  the  colored  flames  leap  to  their  greatest 
height  and  show  their  greatest  brilliancy,  then  also 
that  they  show  the  most  rapid  and  remarkable 

14 


158     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

changes  of  shape.")  ..."  The  fourth  type  differs 
from  the  preceding  in  the  arrangement  and  appear- 
ance of  the  bands.  It  includes  only  faint  stars.  A 
few  stars,  as  Gamma  of  Cassiopeia,  Eta  of  Argus, 
Beta  of  Lyra,  etc.,  show  the  lines  of  hydrogen  bright 
instead  of  dark,  as  though  surrounded  by  hydrogen 
glowing  with  a  heat  more  intense  than  that  of 
the  central  orb  itself  around  which  the  hydrogen 
exists." 

All  the  above  five  hundred  stars  reveal  the  pres- 
ence of  hydrogen  under  precisely  such  conditions 
as  conform  to  the  general  principle  involved  in  the 
source  and  mode  of  solar  energy  as  herein  stated. 
But  a  single  star  (Betelgeuse)  was  observed  by 
Huggins  and  Miller  in  England  which  showed  the 
lines  of  sodium,  magnesium,  iron,  bismuth,  and 
calcium,  "but  found  those  of  hydrogen  wanting." 
Of  the  spectrum  of  this  gas,  Professor  Ball  says, 
"  The  hydrogen  spectrum  appears  to  present  a  sim- 
plicity not  found  in  the  spectrum  of  any  other  gas, 
and  therefore  it  is  with  great  interest  that  we  ex- 
amine the  spectra  of  the  white  stars,  in  which  the 
dark  lines  of  hydrogen  are  unusually  strong  and 
broad."  Referring  to  the  new  star  in  the  Northern 
Crown,  which  burst  forth  in  1866,  the  same  writer 
says,  "  The  feature  which  made  the  spectrum  of 
the  new  star  essentially  distinct  from  that  of  any 
other  star  that  had  been  previously  observed  was 
the  presence  of  certain  bright  lines  superposed  on  a 
spectrum  with  dark  lines  of  one  of  the  ordinary 
types.  The  position  of  certain  of  these  lines  showed 
that  one  of  the  luminous  gases  must  be  hydrogen.1"  Of 


DISTRIBUTION  AND   CONSERVATION.          159 

this  particular  star  (Betelgeuse)  it  is  said  (Proctor's 
"Familiar  Essays"),  "Red  stars  and  variable  stars 
affect  the  neighborhood  of  the  Milky  Way  or  of 
well-marked  star-streams.  The  constellation  Orion 
is  singularly  rich  in  objects  of  this  class.  It  is  here 
that  the  strange  'variable'  Betelgeuse  lies.  At 
present  this  star  shows  no  sign  of  variation,  but  a 
few  years  ago  it  exhibited  remarkable  changes." 
We  thus  see  that  Betelgeuse  is  a  variable  star,  and 
it  must  have  passed  in  its  different  variations  be- 
tween the  limits  of  extreme  brilliancy,  in  which  the 
lines  of  hydrogen  appear  bright,  and  that  of  a  less 
brilliant  stage,  in  which  they  appear  dark, — that  is, 
as  absorption  bands.  It  has  thus,  in  fact,  run  the 
gamut,  so  to  speak,  of  color  changes,  and  now  oc- 
cupies an  intermediate  position  in  the  scale.  In  his 
article  "  Star  unto  Star,"  the  same  writer  says,  "  On 
this  view  we  may  fairly  assume  that  the  darkness 
of  the  hydrogen  lines  is  a  characteristic  of  stars  at 
a  much  higher  temperature  than  our  sun  and  suns 
of  the  same  class."  We  have  already  seen  that  the 
spectra  of  stars  of  the  fourth  type — Appleton's  Cy- 
clopaedia, "  Spectrum  Analysis" — "  show  the  lines 
of  hydrogen  bright  instead  of  dark,  as  though  sur- 
rounded by  hydrogen  glowing  with  a  heat  more 
intense  than  that  of  the  central  orb  itself."  Pro- 
fessor Dunkin  says,  in  his  work  "  The  Midnight 
Sky,"  "  One  of  the  conclusions  drawn  by  Kirchhoff 
from  these  experiments  is  that  each  incandescent 
gas  weakens,  by  absorption,  rays  of  the  same  degree 
of  refrangibility  as  those  it  emits;  or,  in  other 
words,  that  the  spectrum  of  each  incandescent  gas 


160     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

is  reversed  when  this  gas  is  traversed  by  rays  of  the 
same  refrangibility  emanating  from  an  intensely 
luminous  source  which  gives  of  itself  a  continuous 
spectrum  like  that  of  the  sun."  ..."  The  third  di- 
vision, including  Betelgeuse,  Antares,  Alpha  Her- 
culis,  and  others  of  like  color,  seems  to  be  affected 
by  something  peculiar  in  their  physical  composi- 
tion, as  if  their  photospheres  contained  a  quantity  of 
gas  at  a  lower  temperature  than  usual.  The  stars  in 
this  class  have  generally  a  ruddy  tint,  probably 
owing  to  their  light  having  undergone  some  modi- 
fication while  passing  through  an  absorbing  atmos- 
phere. ...  A  great  number  of  the  stars  in  the 
third  division  are  variable  in  their  lustre."  We 


Reversal  and  neutralization  of  spectroscopic  lines  in  spectrum  of  a  variable 
star  like  Betelgeuse. — 1,  photosphere  hotter  than  chromosphere ;  hydrogen 
lines  dark.  2,  chromosphere  hotter  than  photosphere ;  hydrogen  lines  bright. 
3,  chromosphere  and  photosphere  equally  incandescent. 

may  therefore  readily  conclude  that  midway  be- 
tween the  inverted  lines  which  constitute  the  dark 
absorption  bands  and  the  faint  spectra  which  show 
the  bright  lines  of  hydrogen  direct  there  must  be 
an  atmosphere  of  glowing  hydrogen  superposed 
upon  a  deeper  one  in  such  proportion  that  it  will 


DISTRIBUTION  AND  CONSERVATION.          161 

not  reveal  its  presence  in  the  spectroscope  at  all ; 
for  when  the  dark  and  light  hands,  which  occupy 
precisely  the  same  position  in  the  spectrum,  are  of 
approximately  equal  intensity  the  result  will  obvi- 
ously  be  the  neutralization  of  both.  That  among 
a  myriad  suns,  some  with  dark  hydrogen  lines  and 
some  with  bright,  there  should  occur  occasionally 
an  example  corresponding  to  this  point  of  diver- 
gence, and  especially  among  variable  stars,  is  not 
only  to  be  expected,  but  is,  in  fact,  confirmatory  of 
the  general  hypothesis  itself.  It  is  an  exception 
which  emphatically  proves  the  rule,  when  we  can 
trace  the  operative  cause  which  has  produced  it 


14* 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   PHENOMENA   OF   THE   STARS. 

LET  us  now  consider  the  phenomena  of  the 
double  stars.  These  were  formerly  believed  to  be 
single  orbs,  but  the  more  powerful  telescopes  of 
recent  years  have  shown  them  to  consist  of  two 
suns,  each  substantially  similar  to  our  own  sun, 
revolving  around  each  other  at  a  relatively  small 
distance  apart.  In  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  article 
"  Star,"  we  read,  "  It  is  noteworthy  that  few  simple 
stars  show  such  colors  as  blue,  green,  violet,  or 
indigo;  but  among  double  and  multiple  star  sys- 
tems not  only  are  these  colors  recognized,  but  such 
colors  as  lilac,  olive,  gray,  russet,  and  so  on.  A 
beautiful  feature  in  many  double  stars  remains  to 
be  noticed :  it  is  often  found  that  the  components 
exhibit  complementary  colors.  This  is  oftener  seen 
among  unequal  doubles,  and  then  the  larger  com- 
ponent shows  a  color  from  the  red  end  of  the 
spectrum,  as  red,  orange,  or  yellow,  while  the 
smaller  shows  the  corresponding  color  from  the 
blue  end,  as  green,  blue,  or  purple.  The  colors 
are  real,  not  merely  the  result  of  contrast,  for  when 
the  larger  star  is  concealed  the  color  of  the  smaller 
remains  (in  most  cases)  unchanged.  Spectrum 
analysis  shows  that  the  colors  of  many  double 
stars  are  due  to  the  absorptive  vapors  cutting  off 
certain  portions  of  the  light.  .  .  .  The  components 

162 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  163 

are  circling  around  each  other,  or  rather  around 
their  common  center  of  gravity."  Professor  Ball, 
in  his  work  "  In  the  High  Heavens,"  says,  "  There 
is  no  more  pleasing  phenomenon  in  sidereal  astron- 
omy than  that  presented  by  the  contrasted  hues 
often  exhibited  by  double  stars.  ...  It  seemed  not 
at  all  impossible  that  there  might  be  some  optical 
explanation  of  colors  so  vividly  contrasted  ema- 
nating from  points  so  contiguous.  It  was  also  re- 
membered that  blue  stars  were  generally  only 
present  as  one  member  of  an  associated  pair.  .  .  . 
When,  however,  Dr.  Huggins  showed  that  the 
actual  spectrum  of  the  object  demonstrated  that 
the  cause  of  the  color  in  each  star  arose  from 
absorption  by  its  peculiar  atmosphere,  it  became 
impossible  to  doubt  the  reality  of  the  phenomena. 
Since  then  it  has  been  for  physicists  to  explain 
why  two  closely  neighboring  stars  should  differ  so 
widely  in  their  atmospheric  constituents,  for  it  can  be 
no  longer  contended  that  their  beautiful  hues  arise 
from  an  optical  illusion." 

Of  these  double  stars  with  complementary  colors 
we  quote  the  following  from  Professor  Dunkin 
(who,  in  turn,  quotes  from  Admiral  Smyth,  the 
author  of  "  Sidereal  Chromatics") :  "  In  Eta  Cassio- 
peise  the  large  star  is  a  dull  white  and  the  smaller 
one  lilac ;  in  Gamma  Andromedae,  a  deep  yellowr 
and  sea-green ;  in  Iota  Cancri,  a  dusky  orange  and 
a  sapphire  blue;  in  Delta  Corvi,  a  bright  yellow 
and  purple ;  and  in  Albiero,  or  Beta  Cygni,  yellow 
and  blue.  In  most  of  the  remaining  stars  of  the 
list  the  contrasting  colors  are  equally  marked,  and 


164     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 


also  in  many  others  which  are  not  included  in  it." 
Some  of  these  double  stars  are  variable  in  their 
colors,  as  are  the  ordinary  single  variables,  and,  of 
course,  for  a  similar  reason, — to  wit,  the  varying 
intensity  of  more  or  less  cumulative  planetary  im- 
pacts. 

The  interpretation,  of  course,  as  explained  below, 
is  that  these  suns,  each  one  of  different  mass  and 
consequently  of  different  electrical  resistance,  are 
arranged  in  parallel  circuit  along  a  single  line  of 

electric  current ;  a  pair 
of  different-sized  arc 
or  incandescent  lamps, 
similarly  arranged, 
would  exhibit  precisely 
the  same  phenomena. 
A  compound  solar  sys- 
tem of  this  sort,  appar- 
ently, with  double  sun 
and  single  planetary 
system  in  process  of 
formation,  nearly  com- 
pleted from  a  spiral 
nebula,  is  shown  in  a  gaseous  nebula  within  the 
constellation  Ursa  Minor,  illustrated  in  Lord 
Rosse's  drawing  (see  Nichol's  "  Architecture  of 
the  Heavens,"  Plate  X.,  lower  figure). 

More  than  three  thousand  of  these  binary  stars 
have  been  catalogued,  and  some  of  them  make  a 
complete  revolution  about  their  common  centers  of 
gravity — so  distant  are  they  from  each  other — in 
periods  of  not  less  than  sixty,  or  even  eighty,  years. 


Reduced  from  Plate  X.  of  Nichol's 
work.  For  interpretation  see  Chapter 
XIII.,  "  The  Genesis  of  Solar  Systems." 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  165 

Of  the  double  star  Mizar, — the  middle  one  of  the 
three  which  form  the  tail  of  the  Great  Bear, — Pro- 
fessor Ball  states  that,  by  new  methods  of  spectro- 
scopic  analysis,  the  component  stars  which  form 
this  double  have  been  found  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  miles  apart,  while  Alcor,  a  smaller 
star,  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  enormously 
farther  from  Mizar  than  are  the  components  of 
the  latter  from  each  other,  moves  through  space  in 
a  parallel  direction  and  with  the  same  velocity  as 
its  double  companion.  What  the  connection  may 
be,  if  any,  we  do  not  know,  but  their  identical 
course  is  obviously  related  to  some  common  cir- 
cumstance of  origin,  as  is  the  probable  case  with 
those  other  groups  of  stars  which  drift  through 
space  together.  They  show  that  solar  systems  are 
not  necessarily  individual  creations,  but  may  be 
formed  in  groups  at  the  same  period  of  time,  and 
by  the  operation  of  natural  laws  simultaneously 
directed  upon  or  into  the  creative  matter  from 
which  solar  systems  are  built  up  and  sent  along 
their  way.  It  has  been  already  shown  that  our  sun 
has  a  motion  around  the  center  of  gravity  of  our 
own  solar  system,  as  a  whole,  similar  to  that  of  the 
binary  stars  around  each  other,  but  that,  by  reason 
of  his  vast  relative  mass  (seven  hundred  and  fifty 
to  one  for  all  the  planets),  this  center  is  always 
within  the  confines  of  his  own  volume.  If,  how- 
ever, our  sun  were  divided  into  two  suns  one,  two, 
or  five  million  miles  apart,  each  revolving  around 
a  common  center  of  gravity  situated  between  the 
two,  and  the  planets  revolving  around  the  same 


166     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERQT. 

center  of  gravity,  but  relatively  more  distant,  the 
planets  would  thus  rotate  around  both  suns  as  a 
common  center,  and  with  the  electric  polarity  of 
both  suns  the  same,  as  must  necessarily  be  the  case, 
they  would  present  phenomena  precisely  similar 
to  those  exhibited  by  the  double  stars.  And  such 
might  very  easily  be  the  case  in  even  a  system  so 
small  as  our  own,  for  the  planet  Mercury  has  so 
elliptical  an  orbit  that  its  distance  from  the  sun 
varies  in  different  parts  of  its  annual  movement 
from  twenty-eight  to  forty-five  millions  of  miles. 
There  would  then  be  mutual  electric  repulsion  of 
the  two  solar  electrospheres,  such  as  we  see  in  the 
case  of  comets  and  in  the  sun's  corona  and  long 
streamers.  Professor  Proctor,  article  "  The  Sun's 
Long  Streamers,"  says,  "  These  singular  append- 
ages, like  the  streamers  seen  by  Professor  Abbe, 
extend  directly  from  the  sun,  as  if  he  exerted  some 
repellent  action.  ...  I  cannot  but  think  that  the 
true  explanation  of  these  streamers,  whatever  it 
may  be  (I  am  not  in  the  least  prepared  to  say 
what  it  is),  will  be  found  whensoever  astronomers 
have  found  an  explanation  of  comets'  tails.  .  .  . 
Whether  the  repulsive  force  is  electrical,  magnetic, 
or  otherwise,  does  not  at  present  concern  us,  or 
rather  does  concern  us,  but  at  present  we  are 
quite  unable  to  answer  the  question."  A  similar 
example  is  to  be  found  in  the  self-repellent  posi- 
tive electrospheres  of  the  earth  and  moon,  illus- 
trated on  a  previous  page,  which,  in  fact,  are  types 
among  planets  of  precisely  what  we  find  in  double 
stars.  Now,  if  these  double  central  suns,  with  a 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  167 

common  system  of  planets  revolving  around  them 
both,  differ  one  from  the  other  in  size,  they  will 
differ  also  in  the  depth  and  density  of  their  hydro- 
gen atmospheres,  and  the  electric  forces  directed 


Double  stars  with  complementary  colors.— A,  B,  C,  D,  planets ;  S,  S',  double 
central  sun ;  S,  larger  sun,  with  dark  absorption  spectrum,  yellow-red,  or 
orange ;  S',  smaller  sun,  many  bright  lines,  bluish-white ;  E,  E',  lines  of  plan- 
etary energy ;  S,  S'  also  show  self-repulsion  of  their  solar  electrospheres. 

against  them  will  produce  different  results  in  each. 
In  one  we  will  have  high  temperature,  great  vola- 
tilization, and  wide  absorption  bands ;  in  the  other, 
a  shallow  atmosphere,  a  temperature  below  that 


168     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  an  extensive  volatilization  of  its  metallic  com- 
ponents, and  a  spectrum  rich  in  light  at  the  blue 
end,  while  the  former  one  will  be  correspondingly 
richer  in  the  yellow  and  red  rays  at  the  opposite 
and  lower  end  of  the  spectrum.  One,  in  fact,  will 
manifest  the  phenomena  of  blue-white  stars,  the 
other,  those  of  orange-red,  but  variously  modified 
in  a  chromatic  series.  The  case  may  be  extended 
to  multiple  stars,  and  complementary  colors,  more 
or  less  perfect,  may  be  almost  predicated  as  the 
law  of  compound  solar  bodies  having  cores  like 
that  of  our  sun,  but  each  of  different  mass,  and 
surrounded  by  hydrogen  atmospheres  of  different 
depths  and  densities,  both  acted  upon  by  the  same 
exterior  planetary  electrical  currents.  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  of  double  stars,  and  probably  so  of  all 
the  others.  Of  course  such  enormously  massive 
double  suns  presuppose  enormous  planets,  rotating 
around  them  at  enormous  distances ;  but  when  we 
compare  the  distance  of  our  own  satellite,  the  moon, 
from  the  earth  with  the  distance  of  Neptune  from 
the  sun,  and  consider  that  the  light  of  the  sun  will 
reach  Neptune  in  about  four  hours,  and  then  com- 
pare this  distance  with  the  inconceivable  distances 
of  space  requisite  to  retard  and  merge  all  radiant 
energy  into  the  diffused  molecular  energy  of  posi- 
tion, our  wonder  will  cease. 

We  have  also  to  consider  those  single  stars 
which  (see  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  article  "  Star") 
are  variable  in  their  brilliancy.  "  These  stars  may 
be  divided  into  periodic  variables,  irregular  varia- 
bles, and  temporary  stars.  Periodic  variable  stars 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  169 

are  those  which  undergo  increase  and  diminution 
of  light  at  regular  intervals.  Thus,  the  star  Mira, 
or  0 micron  of  Cetus,  varies  in  lustre,  in  a  period 
of  three  hundred  and  thirty-one  and  one-third 
days,  from  the  second  magnitude  to  a  faintness 
such  that  the  star  can  only  be  seen  with  a  power- 
ful telescope,  and  thence  to  the  second  magnitude 
again.  It  shines  for  about  a  fortnight  as  a  star  of 
the  second  magnitude,  and  then  remains  invisible 
for  five  months,  the  decrease  of  lustre  occupying 
about  three  months,  the  increase  about  seven  weeks. 
Such  is  the  general  course  of  its  phases.  It  does 
not  always,  however,  return  to  the  same  degree  of 
brightness,  nor  increase  and  diminish  by  the  same 
gradations ;  neither  are  the  successive  intervals  of 
its  maxima  equal.  From  recent  observations  and 
inquiries  into  its  history,  the  mean  period  would 
appear  to  be  subject  to  a  cyclical  fluctuation  em- 
bracing eighty-eight  such  periods,  and  having  the 
effect  of  gradually  lengthening  and  shortening 
alternately  those  intervals  to  the  extent  of  twenty- 
five  days  one  way  and  the  other.  The  irregulari- 
ties in  the  degree  of  brightness  attained  at  the  max- 
imum are  probably  also  periodical.  .  .  .  It  suggests 
a  probable  explanation  of  these  changes  of  bright- 
ness, that  when  the  star  is  near  its  minimum,  its 
color  changes  from  white  to  a  full  red,  which, 
from  what  we  know  of  the  spectra  of  colored  stars, 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  loss  of  brightness  is  due 
to  the  formation  of  many  spots  over  the  surface  of 
this  distant  sun. 

"  Algol  is  another  remarkable  variable,  passing, 

H  15 


170     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

however,  much  more  rapidly  through  all  its 
changes.  It  is  ordinarily  a  second-magnitude 
star,  but  during  about  seven  hours  in  each  period 
of  sixty-nine  hours  its  lustre  first  diminishes  until 
the  star  is  reduced  to  a  fourth  magnitude,  and 
after  it  has  remained  twenty  minutes  at  its  mini- 
mum its  lustre  is  gradually  restored.  It  remains 
a  second-magnitude  star  for  about  sixty-two  hours 
in  each  period  of  sixty-nine  hours.  These  changes 
seem  to  correspond  to  what  might  be  expected  if 
a  large  opaque  orb  is  circling  around  this  distant 
sun  in  a  period  of  sixty-nine  hours,  transiting  its 
disk  at  regular  intervals." 

Of  this  star,  Professor  Ball  says,  "  Applying  the 
improved  spectroscopic  process  to  Algol,  he  [Vogel] 
determined  on  one  night  that  Algol  was  retreating 
from  the  earth  at  a  speed  of  twenty-six  miles  per 
second.  .  .  .  "When  Yogel  came  to  repeat  his  obser- 
vations, he  found  that  Algol  was  again  moving  with 
the  same  velocity,  but  this  time  towards  the  earth 
instead  of  from  it.  ...  It  appeared  that  the  move- 
ments were  strictly  periodic;  that  is  to  say,  for 
one  day  and  ten  hours  the  star  is  moving  towards 
us,  and  then  for  a  like  time  it  moves  from  us,  the 
maximum  speed  being  .  .  .  twenty-six  miles  a 
second.  ...  It  is  invariably  found  that  every 
time  the  movement  of  retreat  is  concluded  the  star 
loses  its  brilliance,  and  regains  it  again  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  return  movement.  .  .  .  The 
spectroscopic  evidence  admits  of  no  other  interpre- 
tation save  that  there  must  be  another  mighty  body 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Algol.  .  .  .  Algol  must 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  171 

be  attended  by  a  companion  star  which,  if  not 
absolutely  as  devoid  of  intrinsic  light  as  the  earth 
or  the  moon,  is  nevertheless  dark  relatively  to 
Algol.  Once  in  each  period  of  revolution  this  ob- 
scure body  intrudes  itself  between  the  earth  and 
Algol,  cutting  off  a  portion  of  the  direct  light  from 
the  star  and  thus  producing  the  well-known  effect." 
This  is,  in  fact,  a  periodic  transit  or  eclipse  of 
Algol  by  a  planet,  such  as  we  see  in  eclipses  of 
our  own  sun  by  the  moon  and  the  inner  planets, 
except  that  Algol's  planet  is  apparently  single  like 
our  moon  with  reference  to  the  earth,  and  that  it 
is  relatively  much  larger  than  any  of  our  own 
planets,  as  we  would  necessarily  suppose  it  to  be, 
if  solitary.  Its  mass  has  been  computed  by  the 
effects  which  it  produces,  and  we  learn  that  it  is 
not  a  dark  sun  with  a  brilliant  planet,  but  a  bril- 
liant sun  with  a  dark  planet,  just  as  our  solar 
system  presents.  "  Algol,  at  the  moment  of  its 
greatest  eclipse,  has  lost  about  three-fifths  of  its 
light;  it  therefore  follows  that  the  dark  satellite 
must  have  covered  three-fifths  of  the  bright  sur- 
face. .  .  .  The  period  of  maximum  obscuration 
is  about  twenty  minutes,  and  we  know  the  velocity 
of  the  bright  star,  which,  along  with  the  period 
of  revolution,  gives  the  magnitude  of  the  orbit." 
From  these  data  it  has  been  computed  that  the 
globe  of  Algol  itself  is  about  one-fourth  larger 
than  that  of  our  visible  sun,  but  its  mass  is  so 
much  less  that  its  weight  is  only  one-half  that  of 
our  sun,  so  that  its  body  is  probably  gaseous.  The 
author  concludes,  "No  one,  however,  will  be 


172     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

likely  to  doubt  that  it  is  the  law  of  gravitation, 
pure  and  simple,  which  prevails  in  the  celestial 
spaces,  and  consequently  we  are  able  to  make  use 
of  it  to  explain  the  circumstances  attending  the 
movements  of  Algol's  dark  companion.  This  body 
is  the  smaller  of  the  two,  and  the  speed  with  which 
it  moves  is  double  as  great  as  that  of  Algol,  so 
that  it  travels  over  as  many  miles  in  a  second  as 
an  express  train  can  get  over  in  an  hour.  The 
companion  of  Algol  is  about  the  same  size  as  our 
sun,  but  has  a  mass  only  one-fourth  as  great. 
This  indicates  a  globe  of  matter  which  must  be 
largely  in  the  gaseous  state,  but  which,  nevertheless, 
seems  to  be  devoid  of  intrinsic  luminosity.  Their  dis- 
tance [apart]  is  always  some  three  million  miles. 
This  is,  however,  an  unusually  short  distance  when 
compared  with  the  dimensions  of  the  two  globes 
themselves."  With  this  exception,  the  author 
says,  "  the  movements  of  Algol  and  its  companion 
are  not  very  dissimilar  to  movements  in  the  solar 
system  with  which  we  are  already  familiar."  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  want  of  luminosity  in  the 
dark  companion  of  Algol  finds  a  ready  explanation 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  planet,  acting  precisely  as 
our  own  planets  do,  and  that  the  luminosity  of 
Algol  itself  is  directly  attributable  to  the  electricity 
developed  by  the  presence  of  this  planet  rotating 
axially  and  orbitally  around  it,  and  the  darkness 
of  the  planet  itself  is  the  necessary  correlative  of 
the  heat  and  light  of  its  sun.  The  planet  has 
about  one-half  the  density  of  Saturn,  while  Algol 
has  one-half  the  density  of  the  sun,  and  hence  we 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  173 

should  expect  to  find  on  Algol  an  atmosphere 
largely  composed  of  glowing  hydrogen,  and  on  its 
planet  an  atmosphere  largely  composed  of  oxygen, 
in  which,  doubtless,  float  enormous  clouds  of  aque- 
ous vapor.  The  interpretation  is  direct  and  con- 
clusive, and  upon  no  other  hypothesis  can  the  facts 
be  explained,  for  their  close  connection  with  each 
other  demonstrates  their  common  origin,  and  their 
masses  are  not  so  different  one  from  the  other  as 
to  permit,  on  any  theory  of  their  coequal  origin  as 
suns,  one  to  glow  with  the  fires  of  youth  and  en- 
ergy and  the  other  to  have  grown  dark  and  dead 
from  old  age  and  exhaustion,  and  especially  so  if 
still  in  its  gaseous  stage,  which  is  that  which  must 
characterize  its  highest  state  of  incandescent  en- 
ergy from  the  most  active  condensation  of  its 
volume,  if  the  nebular  hypothesis  has  any  validity 
whatever.  In  fact,  this  example  alone,  if  the  con- 
stitution of  Algol's  dark  satellite  is  really  gaseous, 
must  go  very  far  to  throw  the  gravest  doubt,  in 
itself,  on  the  validity  of  this  hypothesis. 

The  star  Beta,  of  the  constellation  Lyra,  has  a  full 
period  of  twelve  days  and  twenty-two  hours,  divided 
into  two  periods  of  six  days  and  eleven  hours,  in 
each  of  which  the  star  has  a  maximum  brightness  of 
about  the  three  and  one-half  magnitude,  but  in  one 
period  the  minimum  is  about  the  four  and  one-third 
magnitude,  while  in  the  other  it  is  about  the  four 
and  one-half  magnitude.  This  peculiarity  points,  it 
is  said,  to  an  opaque  orb  with  a  satellite,  the  satellite 
being  occulted  by  the  primary  in  the  alternative 
transits,  and  therefore  the  loss  of  light  is  less. 

15* 


174     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

The  star  Delta  of  Cepheus  is  quite  different,  how- 
ever, for,  while  it  takes  only  one,  day  and  fourteen 
hours  in  passing  from  its  minimum  to  maximum 
of  brightness,  it  occupies  three  days  and  nine- 
teen hours,  or  somewhat  more  than  double  this 
time,  in  passing  from  maximum  to  minimum. 
Two  or  three  hundred  of  these  variable  stars  are 
already  known.  The  above  examples  are  cited 
in  detail  because  they  furnish  the  strongest  pos- 
sible proof  of  the  truth  of  the  hypothesis  which 
we  are  endeavoring  to  present.  While  the  move- 
ments of  the  stars  Algol  and  Beta  Lyrae  may  find 
an  adequate  interpretation  in  the  'one  case  in  a 
large  occulting  planet,  and  in  the  other  in  an  oc- 
culting planet  with  a  satellite,  it  is  obvious  that 
Mira  and  Delta  Cephei  cannot  be  explained  except 
by  the  presence  of  planetary  bodies  or  satellites 
which  do  not  mechanically  occult  the  light  of  their 
suns.  In  these  regularly  variable  stars  it  is  the 
light  which  varies,  but  of  course  the  solar  heat 
must  vary  also, — that  is  to  say,  the  solar  energy 
varies  regularly,  but  with  unequal  periods  of  growth 
and  decline  and  with  larger  periods  of  cyclical 
variation  in  addition.  Such  variations  can  only  be 
produced  by  the  action  of  permanently  connected 
and  orbitally  rotating  planetary  bodies,  acting  dy- 
namically through  space,  to  regularly  increase  and 
diminish  the  solar  energy,  and  such  bodies  can 
only  do  this  by  their  orbital  positions  with  refer- 
ence to  each  other  and  to  the  central  sun  itself.  In 
this  case,  since  the  activity  of  solar  energy  is  most 
unquestionably  varied  by  the  planetary  energies, 


THE  PHENOMENA    OF  THE  STARS.  175 

by  their  position  and  movements,  at  least  a  portion 
of  solar  energy  must  be  due  to  planetary  action, 
and  if  this  be  so,  it  may  be  affirmed  with  certainty 
that  substantially  all  solar  energy  may  be  produced 
in  the  same  way ;  for,  otherwise,  we  seek  for  two 
diverse  causes  to  produce  a  single  effect,  which 
may  be  produced  by  one.  We  have  no  knowledge, 
however,  of  any  planetary  energy  which  could 
operate  to  increase  or  diminish  the  energy  of  the 
central  sun  in  its  emission  of  light,  except  that 
which  we  have  already  presented,  and  no  theory 
of  our  own  sun's  energy  hitherto  advanced  has 
ever  taken  cognizance  of  the  planetary  energies  of 
our  system  as  an  effective  cause  for  those  of  the 
sun.  But  while  the  sun's  energy  is — as  it  must  be 
in  this  case — the  outcome  of  that  of  the  planets,  it 
is  equally  obvious  that  the  planets  themselves  can 
have  no  permanent,  inherent  energy  of  their  own 
to  generate  or  modify  such  energy  of  the  sun,  since 
they  are  in  fact  supplied  by  the  solar  energy,  and 
their  motions  are  controlled  and  regulated  by  the 
sun  itself.  Hence  the  inference  is  irresistible  that 
the  planets  must  derive  their  primary  force  from 
an  external  source  not  solar,  and  this  they  can  only 
do  by  means  of  their  rotation  in  space,  and  the 
only  force  derivable  from  space  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge  is  electricity,  so  that  the  circle  thus 
becomes  complete.  How  now  shall  we  explain 
these  periodical  aberrations  of  energy  ?  The  color 
of  a  star,  as  we  know,  is  no  criterion  of  its  age  or 
size.  The  color  is  due  to  atmospheric  absorption 
of  the  radiant  light.  The  double  stars,  for  example, 


176     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

revolve  around  each  other  at  regular  periods,  and 
they  are  necessarily  of  nearly  the  same  age,  as 
sidereal  ages  are  computed,  hut  they  frequently 
differ  one  from  the  other  in  color,  and  multiple 
stars  may  he  all  different  each  from  the  others ;  and 
the  color,  as  before  stated,  is  no  criterion  of  size,  for 
a  small  sun,  with  its  glowing  hydrogen  in  a  state  of 
high  incandescence,  and  with  few  absorption  bands 
in  its  spectrum,  will  appear  bluish-white,  or  of  that 
specific  type  of  stars,  without  reference  to  size, 
while  a  much  larger  sun,  with  its  light  darkened  by 
broad  absorption  bands  and  sun-spots,  will  appear 
orange  or  red;  and,  consequently,  difference  of 
color  can  be  no  criterion  of  distance,  since  a  blue- 
white  star  of  small  size  will  outshine  a  red  orb  of 
much  greater  magnitude,  whether  it  be  more  or 
less  distant.  The  variable  stars,  for  these  reasons, 
belong  to  the  order  of  red  stars  mostly,  if  not  alto- 
gether. We  must  also  bear  in  mind  that  sun-spots 
do  not  diminish  the  solar  heat,  as  they  are  the 
result  of  increased  and  not  of  diminished  energy. 
Electric  currents  of  high  potential  pass  directly, 
as  we  know,  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance  to 
their  opposite  center  of  polarity,  so  that  two  planets 
nearly  in  conjunction  with  each  other  transmit 
their  currents  almost  directly  towards  the  sun's 
center,  and  upon  the  same  point  of  solar  latitude, 
while,  if  at  right  angles  with  the  sun,  they  must 
deliver  their  electricity  along  converging  lines  and 
thus  strike  the  solar  surface  at  different  points. 
Currents  of  electricity  of  high  potential  also  (see 
"  Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man,"  page  75),  by 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  177 

their  own  passage,  facilitate  the  passage  of  suc- 
ceeding currents,  so  that  generators  discharging 
along  the  same  lines  find  less  and  less  resistance. 
It  is  true  that  we  find  no  appreciable  resistance  in 
the  passage  of  these  currents  between  the  earth  and 
the  sun,  as  their  velocity  is  that  of  light,  but  both 
light  and  electricity  may  be  equally  retarded  by 
resistance  in  a  small  degree.  We  know  also  that 
in  the  condensed  hydrogen  atmosphere  of  the  sun 
there  must  be  resistance,  and  also  that  the  resist- 
ance in  fluids  diminishes  as  the  temperature  rises. 
Considering  now  the  variable  star  Mira,  as  above 
described,  we  observe,  as  is  the  case  with  Delta 
Cephei,  also  cited,  that  the  period  between  its  great- 
est light,  in  a  descending  scale,  and  its  least  is  about 
twice  as  long  as  its  rise  from  minimum  to  maximum. 
During  a  period  of  four  years  (1672  to  1676)  it  is 
said  that  it  was  not  visible  at  all. 

If  Mira  be  considered  a  relatively  small  sun, 
with  its  axis  strongly  inclined  to  the  planetary 
plane,  and  having  three  planets  only,  two  of  them 
constituting  a  double  planet,  like  the  earth  and 
moon,  but  nearly  equal  in  size,  and  having  a  rota- 
tion about  the  sun  in  nearly  eleven  months  and  a 
rotation  about  each  other  in  the  same  period,  and, 
besides  tjiese,  a  much  more  distant  large  planet, 
something  like  our  Jupiter,  with  an  orbital  period 
of  many  years,  so  that  the  cycle  of  relative  posi- 
tions is  complete  in  about  eighty-eight  of  the 
shorter  periods  of  variation,  we  would  have  such 
results  as  we  see  in  Mira.  Twice  in  each  revolu- 
tion of  the  double  planet  its  two  members  and 


178     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

their  sun  would  be  in  conjunction,  and  we  would 
have  great  brilliancy  and  whiteness  until  the  me- 
tallic elements  began  to  volatilize  in  increased  pro- 


Possible  solar  system  of  variable  star  Mira. — D,  central  sun  with  axis  of 
rotation  considerably  inclined  from  perpendicular  to  plane'tary  plane ;  A,  B, 
double  internal  planet,  like  the  earth  and  moon,  with  short  orbital  period  ; 
C,  large  external  planet,  like  Jupiter,  with  long  period ;  line  A',  B',  C', 
conjunction,  period  of  greatest  energy ;  A,  B,  C,  opposition,  period  of  least 
planetary  energy. 

portions;  then  an  era  of  wide  absorption  bands 
and  redness,  gradually  increasing  to  a  maximum 
after  its  periods  of  greatest  light,  and  then  slowly 
diminishing  as  the  double  planet  advanced  in  its 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  179 

rotation ;  and,  finally,  as  it  again  approached  con- 
junction, the  brilliant  hydrogen  illumination,  sub- 
sequently followed  by  the  gradually  darkened  spec- 
trum, and  so  on,  while  the  large  outer  planet  by 
its  various  positions  would  first  relatively  retard 
and  then  accelerate  the  variation  until  its  grand 
cycle  was  complete.  The  permanent  disappear- 
ance for  years,  if  true,  may  be  due  to  other  causes, 
which  will  be  referred  to  in  considering  the  phe- 
nomena of  new  and  temporary  stars.  Many  of 
the  irregular  variables  may  doubtless  be  similarly 
explained, — our  own  sun,  in  fact,  being  a  variable 
with  a  period  of  about  eleven  years, — and  doubtless 
the  apparent  irregularity  in  most  cases  is  due  to 
lack  of  sufficient  time  for  observation.  Those  stars 
which  are  in  fact  really  irregular  in  their  varia- 
tion owe  their  changes,  doubtless,  to  the  same 
causes  which  produce  new  stars,  so  called,  and 
"  suns  in  flames,"  which  will  be  next  considered. 

Among  the  countless  stars  of  heaven  a  great 
catastrophe  seems  occasionally  to  occur.  A  star 
bursts  out  into  sudden  flame,  to  all  appearance,  or 
a  great  fixed  star  appears  where  no  star  had  ever 
been  seen  before.  In  Professor  Proctor's  article, 
"  Suns  in  Flames"  ("  Myths  and  Marvels  of  Astron- 
omy"), we  will  find  an  extended  discussion  of  these 
wonderful  phenomena.  The  astronomer  Tycho 
Brahe  described  the  one  which  appeared  in  1572 
as  follows :  "  It  suddenly  shone  forth  in  the  con- 
stellation Cassiopeia  with  a  splendor  exceeding 
that  of  stars  of  the  first  magnitude,  or  even  Jupiter 
or  Venus  at  their  brightest,  and  could  be  seen  by 


180     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

the  naked  eye  on  the  meridian  at  full  day.  Its 
brilliancy  gradually  diminished  from  the  time  of 
its  first  appearance,  and  at  the  end  of  sixteen 
months  it  entirely  disappeared,  and  has  never  been 
seen  since.  During  the  whole  time  of  its  appari- 
tion its  place  in  the  heavens  remained  unaltered, 
and  it  had  no  annual  parallax,  so  that  its  distance 
was  of  the  same  order  as  that  of  the  fixed  stars." 
Tycho  described  its  changes  of  color  as  follows : 
first,  as  having  been  of  a  bright  white ;  afterwards 
of  a  reddish-yellow,  like  Mars  or  Aldebaran  ;  and, 
lastly,  of  a  leaden  white,  like  Saturn.  In  1604  a 
first- magnitude  star  suddenly  appeared  in  the  right 
foot  of  Ophiucus.  "  It  presented  appearances  re- 
sembling those  shown  by  the  former,  and  disap- 
peared after  a  few  months."  Many  other  cases 
are  cited  by  astronomers,  and  in  1866  "  a  star  ap- 
peared in  the  Northern  Crown,  the  observations 
of  which  threw  great  light  on  the  subject  of  so- 
called  new  stars.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  found 
that  where  this  new  star  appeared  there  had  been 
a  tenth- magnitude  star;  the  new  star,  then,  was  in 
reality  a  star  long  known,  which  had  acquired  new 
brilliancy.  When  first  observed  with  this  abnormal 
lustre,  it  was  shining  as  a  star  of  the  second  mag- 
nitude. Examined  with  the  spectroscope,  its  light 
revealed  a  startling  state  of  things  in  those  remote 
depths  of  space.  The  usual  stellar  spectrum,  rain- 
bow-tinted and  crossed  by  dark  lines,  was  seen  to  be 
crossed  also  by  four  exceedingly  bright  lines,  the  spectrum 
of  glowing  hydrogen.  .  .  .  The  greater  part  of  the 
star's  light  manifestly  came  from  this  glowing 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.          181 

hydrogen,  though  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that 
the  rest  of  the  spectrum  was  brighter  than  before 
the  outburst,  the  materials  of  the  star  being  raised 
to  an  intense  heat.  The  maximum  brightness  ex- 
ceeded that  of  a  tenth-magnitude  star  nearly  eight 
hundred  times.  After  shining  for  a  short  time  as 
a  second-magnitude  star,  it  diminished  rapidly  in 
lustre,  and  it  is  now  between  the  ninth  and  tenth 
magnitudes"  (Appleton's  Cyclopaedia).  Of  this 
new  star,  Professor  Ball  says,  "  Another  memo- 
rable achievement  in  the  early  part  of  Dr.  Hug- 
gins's  career  is  connected  with  the  celebrated  new 
star  that  burst  forth  in  the  Crown  in  1866.  It 
seemed  a  fortunate  coincidence  that  just  at  the 
moment  when  the  spectroscope  was  beginning  to 
be  applied  to  the  sidereal  heavens  a  star  of  such 
marvellous  character  should  have  presented  itself. 
.  .  .  The  feature  which  made  the  spectrum  of  the 
new  star  essentially  distinct  from  that  of  any  other 
star  that  had  been  previously  observed  was  the 
presence  of  certain  bright  lines  superposed  on  a 
spectrum  with  dark  lines  of  one  of  the  ordinary 
types.  The  position  of  certain  of  these  lines  showed 
that  one  of  the  luminous  gases  must  be  hydrogen. 
.  .  .  The  spectroscope  showed  that  there  must 
have  been  something  which  we  may  describe  as  a 
conflagration  of  hydrogen  on  a  stupendous  scale, 
and  this  outburst  would  account  for  the  sudden 
increase  in  luminosity  of  the  star,  and  also  to  some 
extent  explain  how  so  stupendous  an  illumination, 
once  kindled,  could  dwindle  away  in  so  short  a  time 
as  a  few  days."  It  will  be  seen  that  these  new  stars 

16 


182    SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

leap  suddenly  into  great  brilliancy :  it  is  a  matter 
of  a  few  hours  only.  After  remaining  a  very  short 
time  in  this  stage  of  abnormal  incandescence,  they 
gradually  die  out  again  in  lustre  and  revert  to 
their  original  condition;  they  are  not  consumed 
either  in  body  or  atmosphere. 

Several  theories  have  been  advanced  to  account 
for  these  remarkable  phenomena;  see  "Suns  in 
Flames,"  by  Professor  Proctor.  One  is,  in  effect, 
that  by  some  sudden  "  internal  convulsion  a  large 
volume  of  hydrogen  and  other  gases  was  evolved 
from  it,  the  hydrogen  by  its  combination  with  some 
other  element  giving  out  the  lines  represented  by 
the  bright  lines,  and  at  the  same  time  heating  to  a 
point  of  vivid  incandescence  the  solid  matter  of 
the  star's  surface.  .  .  .  As  the  liberated  hydrogen 
gas  became  exhausted  the  flame  gradually  abated, 
and  with  the  consequent  cooling  the  star's  surface 
became  less  vivid  and  the  star  returned  to  its  original 
condition  ;"  which,  by  the  way,  it  never  could  have 
done  if  its  atmosphere  had  been  exposed  to  such  a 
disintegration,  without  the  construction  of  an  en- 
tirely new  atmosphere  precisely  similar  to  the  one 
just  destroyed.  The  process  would  be  one  of  sim- 
ple combustion.  It  requires  the  evolution  of  enor- 
mous volumes  of  hydrogen  from  within  the  planet, 
and  of  other  enormous  volumes  of  something  else, 
by  which  to  burn  it  up  and  yet  not  burn  up  the 
original  hydrogen  envelope.  This  other  element 
could  not  have  previously  existed  outside  the  solar 
body  and  contiguous  thereto,  or  it  would  have 
burned  up  the  ordinary  hydrogen  envelope  of  the 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  183 

sun  long  before,  as  well  as  the  metallic  vapors 
floating  therein.  Both  these  mutually  hostile  gases 
must  have  come  from  within,  and  this  is  manifestly 
impossible,  as  we  should  thus  have  explosion  and 
solar  destruction,  but  not  combustion.  There  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  hydrogen,  the  lightest  of 
elements,  could  have  remained  occluded  within 
the  solar  mass,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  heavier 
metals,  if  disassociated,  and  if  held  combined  no 
such  sudden  liberation  could  occur.  Besides,  such 
convulsion  would  be  impossible  in  any  sun  at  all 
resembling  ours,  as  any  further  liberation  of  gases 
from  internal  condensation  must  be  due  to  solar 
contraction,  hence  gradual,  and  not  sudden.  More- 
over, such  liberation  of  hydrogen  gas  from  within 
would  show  its  spectrum  loaded,  at  its  earliest 
eruption,  with  absorption  bands ;  and,  finally,  the 
convulsion  presupposes  as  great  an  activity,  and 
consequently  as  great  a  difficulty,  before  the  phe- 
nomenon as  the  phenomenon  itself  presents ;  for 
such  vast  disturbance  of  mass  would  be  more  diffi- 
cult to  account  for,  and  require  more  energy  to 
produce,  than  the  results  themselves.  Moreover, 
the  whole  mass  of  the  star  appeared  to  increase 
equally  in  temperature,  as  shown  by  the  spectrum, 
and,  if  produced  by  an  internal  convulsion,  this 
must  have  extended  to,  if  not  proceeded  from,  its 
core ;  so  that  while  the  combustion  of  hydrogen 
might  have  ceased  in  a  very  brief  time,  the  intense 
heat  of  the  solar  mass  could  not  have  been  dissi- 
pated for  thousands  of  years.  It  would,  in  fact, 
have  disrupted  the  whole  orb. 


184     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Another  theory  is  that  this  vast  incandescence 
was  caused  by  the  "  violent  precipitation  of  some 
mighty  mass — perhaps  a  planet — upon  the  globe  of 
that  remote  sun,  by  which  the  momentum  of  the 
falling  mass  would  be  changed  into  molecular  mo- 
tion; in  other  words,  into  heat  and  light."  This 
theory  is  no  more  plausible  than  the  other,  since  it 
fails  to  account  for  the  enormous  volume  of  hydro- 
gen, with  bright  lines,  as  a  result  of  such  contact; 
while  Professor  Proctor  very  clearly  shows  that 
such  contact  would  have  been  preceded,  neces- 
sarily, by  repeated  partial  grazings,  as  the  outside 
body  repeatedly  passed  in  swifter  and  closer  pas- 
sage by  the  sun  in  its  gradually  approaching  orbital 
revolutions,  and  that  the  increase  of  light  and  heat 
must  have  been  measured  by  years  instead  of  by 
hours.  The  same  difficulties  exist  in  the  supposed 
passage  of  the  star  through  nebulae  or  star  clouds, 
of  which  Professor  Proctor  says,  "  As  for  the  rush 
of  a  star  through  a  nebulous  mass,  that  is  a  theory 
which  would  scarcely  be  entertained  by  any  one 
acquainted  with  the  enormous  distances  separating 
them.  .  .  .  All  we  certainly  knoAV  suggests  that 
the  distances  separating  them  from  each  other  are 
comparable  with  those  which  separate  star  from 
star."  In  fact,  no  tenable  theory  has  been  ad- 
vanced which  will  cover  the  phenomena.  Pro- 
fessor Proctor  describes  a  star  which  flamed  out  in 
1876.  At  midnight,  November  24,  a  star  of  the 
third  magnitude  was  noticed  in  the  constellation 
of  the  Swan ;  its  light  was  very  yellow ;  its  bril- 
liancy rapidly  faded.  On  December  2  it  was  equal 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  THE  STARS.  185 

to  a  star  of  the  fifth  magnitude  only,  and  the  color, 
which  had  been  yellow,  was  now  greenish-blue. 
"  The  star's  spectrum  at  this  time  consisted  almost 
entirely  of  bright  lines.  December  5  he  found 
three  bright  lines  of  hydrogen,  the  strong  double 
line  of  sodium,  the  triple  line  of  magnesium,  and 
two  other  lines.  One  of  these  last  seemed  to  agree 
exactly  in  position  with  a  bright  line  belonging 
to  the  corona  seen  around  the  sun  during  total 
eclipse."  The  star  afterwards  faded  away  gradu- 
ally until  quite  invisible  to  the  naked  eye.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  none  of  the  above  elements — so- 
dium, potassium,  or  magnesium — are  such  as 
would  combine  with  hydrogen  to  produce  the 
phenomena  in  question.  Professor  Proctor  con- 
cludes, "  This  evidence  'seems  to  me  to  suggest 
that  the  intense  heat  which  suddenly  affected  this 
star  had  its  origin  from  without."  He  suggests 
possible  meteoric  flights ;  but  meteoric  stones  them- 
selves are  separated  in  space  by  enormous  dis- 
tances, and  these,  if  converged  in  orbital  flight, 
would  present  the  same  phenomena  of  successive 
grazings  as  a  small  planet  approaching  under  like 
circumstances,  and  by  their  gradually  increasing 
incandescence  we  should  certainly  have  other  ele- 
ments visible  in  the  spectroscope  besides  those  ob- 
served. And  these  meteoric  bodies,  if  projected 
into  the  sun,  would  pass  in  a  very  brief  time 
through  the  hydrogen  envelope,  producing  only 
local  phenomena,  so  that  their  first  blow  would  be 
manifested  in  volatilization  of  the  outer  portions 
of  the  mass  and  broad  absorption  bands,  and  con- 

16* 


186     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

sequent  redness  of  the  planet,  exhibiting  great  heat, 
but  not  great  light.  In  such  case  the  bright  lines 
of  hydrogen,  if  they  appeared  at  all,  would  only 
be  visible  as  an  after-consequence,  and  not  at  the 
earliest  moment  of  conflagration, — that  is,  the 
star  might  grow  from  red  to  white,  but  by  no  pos- 
sibility the  reverse.  It  is,  however,  characteristic 
of  these  new  stars  that  their  first  flash,  as  it  were, 
is  into  the  incandescence  of  directly  glowing  hydro- 
gen, with  its  bright  lines,  then  through  a  series  of 
gradually  increasing  sun-spots,  and  finally  a  slow 
return  to  their  original  condition  and  apparent 
magnitude.  It  is  obviously  a  surface  phenomenon 
of  the  solar  atmosphere,  primarily,  then  followed 
by  consequences  involving  only  the  outer  surface 
of  the  solar  core,  but  with  no  observable  perma- 
nent change  in  the  character  or  constitution  of 

o 

the  mass  of  the  sun  itself.  These  characteristics 
are  invariable,  and  the  sequence  of  phenomena  is 
the  same  in  all  the  cases  observed. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

TEMPORARY    STARS,   METEORS,    AND   COMETS. 

WHAT,  then,  is  the  probable  cause  of  these  ter- 
rific conflagrations,  as  they  appear  to  us?  Take 
an  ordinary  electric  induction  machine, — a  Holtz 
or  a  "Wimshurst, — and,  if  the  surrounding  air  is 
moist,  as  we  operate  it  we  will  find  that  the  re- 
sults are  poor,  the  sparks  short  and  relatively  few ; 
but  let  us  take  the  machine  into  another  room  in 
which  the  atmosphere  is  dry  and  crisp.  A  won- 
drous change  will  occur,  and  instead  of  a  current 
which  could  scarcely  flash  across  a  few  inches  of 
space,  we  will  now  have  so  great  an  increase  of 
energy  that  its  tension  will  even  cause  the  spark 
to  perforate  and  destroy  the  glass  walls  of  the 
heavy  Ley  den  jars  in  which  it  is  condensed.  The 
vast  realms  of  space,  with  their  attenuated  vapors, 
are  the  field  in  which  the  planetary  electric  gen- 
erators operate,  and  into  which,  likewise,  myriads 
of  suns  constantly  pour  their  light  and  heat.  We 
may  consider  this  space,  according  to  the  popular 
view,  to  be  uniform  in  constitution  and  density 
throughout  all  its  parts, — that  it  is,  in  fact,  like  a 
vast,  silent,  and  motionless  dead  sea.  But  this  can- 
not possibly  be  true,  any  more  than  throughout  the 
vast  compass  of  our  own  atmosphere ;  for  while 
some  parts  of  space  are  peopled  by  millions  of  solar 

187 


188    SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

systems,  others,  as  we  can  plainly  see,  so  far  as 
telescopic  vision  extends,  are  comparatively  vacant. 
Far  more  electricity  is  being  abstracted  (so  to 
speak)  in  some  parts  of  space  than  in  others,  and 
far  more  heat  and  light  are  being  poured  back  to 
restore  the  equilibrium  in  some  than  in  others. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  temperature  at  the 
exterior  surface  of  the  terrestrial  atmosphere  is 
estimated  to  be  more  than  two  hundred  degrees 
higher  than  in  the  realms  of  open  interplanetary 
space ;  hence  there  must  be  currents, — currents  of 
rotation  like  cyclones,  vortical  currents  like  whirl- 
winds, currents  of  transmission  like  our  land-  and 
sea-breezes  and  the  trade-winds, — and,  in  fact,  all 
space  must  be  in  a  state  of  constant  displacement 
and  replacement,  and,  if  visible,  we  should  see  it 
like  a  vast  room  filled  with  smoke,  in  which  cur- 
rents of  every  shape  and  direction  and  of  all  ve- 
locities would  be  manifest.  Such  currents  could 
throw  nebulae  during  their  condensation  into  rota- 
tion which  could  never  rotate  of  their  own  mo- 
tion, or  gather  to  centers  of  aggregation  vast  whirl- 
ing clouds  of  spatial  matter,  and  in  the  spiral 
nebulae  we  may  see  many  such  movements  of 
rotation  in  apparent  active  progress.  Of  these  we 
read  in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  "  They  have  the 
appearance  of  a  maelstrom  of  stellar  matter,  and 
are  among  the  most  interesting  objects  in  the 
heavens."  In  Professor  NichoPs  splendid  work 
("The  Architecture  of  the  Heavens,"  1850)  we 
may  see  magnificent  engravings  of  these  wonder- 
ful phenomena,  from  the  drawings  by  Lord  Rosse, 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND  COMETS.      189 

and  no  one  can  study  these  figures  without  real- 
izing the  presence  of  vast  currents  in  space. 

In  the  great  spiral 
nebula  in  the  constella- 
tion Canes  Venatici  (see 
illustration  in  Chapter 
XII.)  we  perceive  that 
the  tail  of  the  smaller 
nebula  has  been  drawn 
into  the  outer  convolu- 
tion of  the  great  spiral, 
against  the  radial  re- 
pulsion of  the  latter 
nebula,  as  we  can  see  by  its  curvature.  This  can 
only  be  due  to  a  tremendous  inflowing  current  in 
space.  Were  the  deflection  due  to  gravity  the  trend 
would  be  to  the  center  and  not  to  the  outer  convolu- 
tion of  the  larger  nebula.  Professor  RTichol  says, 
"  The  spiral  figure  is  characteristic  of  an  extensive 
class  of  galaxies."  Not  only  in  the  spiral,  but  in 
other  forms  of  nebulae  we  may  observe  these  currents 
of  space,  so  that  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that 
they  exist,  and  we  should  even  conclude,  a  priori, 
that  these  must  exist. 

In  the  elongated  linear  nebula  in  Sobieski's 
Crown,  illustrated  above,  its  length  is  deflected  into 
irregular  curves  apparently  due  to  counter-currents 
of  space.  These  gaseous  nebulae,  Flammarion 
says,  "  appear  like  immense  vaporous  clouds  tossed 
about  by  some  rough  winds,  pierced  with  deep 
rents,  and  broken  in  jagged  portions."  It  may  be 
said  generally  that  every  sun,  as  it  drifts  through 


190     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

space,  must  leave  a  wake  of  increased  electric 
potential  among  the  molecules  which  line  its  path- 
way. Beyond  the  limits  of  every  vortex  extend 
radial  or  tangential,  polar  or  equatorial,  streams 
of  space,  and  these  must  extend  without  limit 
until  deflected  or  neutralized  by  other  conditions. 
Throughout  all  space,  just  as  in  our  own  atmos- 
phere, hut  vastly  more  slowly,  there  must  he  an 
infinitude  of  movements  in  every  direction, — move- 
ments in  lines,  circles,  vortices,  ellipses  and  irregular 
curvatures,  and  of  all  possible  varieties  of  mass  and 
volume. 

Suppose,  now,  a  sailing  vessel  lighted  with  in- 
candescent lamps,  the  electrical  currents  for  the  sup- 
port of  which  are  derived  from  the  chemical  action 
of  sea-water  on  multiple  pairs  of  suitable  metallic 
plates  arranged  to  extend  downward  as  a  galvanic 
battery  into  the  ocean  as  the  ship  sails  along,  and 
that  these  plates,  by  the  chemical  action  of  the  sea- 
water  at  ordinary,  temperatures,  should  furnish  a 
sufficient  current  to  properly  light  the  vessel.  If 
the  constancy  of  such  current  depended  on  the 
average  temperature  of  the  sea-water,  at,  say,  sixty 
degrees  Fahrenheit,  we  should  find  that,  on  sud- 
denly crossing  into  the  Gulf  Stream,  with  a  temper- 
ature twenty  degrees  higher,  the  energy  of  the 
battery  would  be  rapidly  increased  and  the  lights 
would  glow  with  increased  brilliancy  until,  on 
emerging  from  the  Gulf  Stream  at  its  opposite  side, 
the  original  status  would  be  gradually  restored.  If 
these  distant  solar  systems,  in  their  drift  through 
space,  should  encounter  a  corresponding  stream 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      191 

under  an  increased  molecular  tension,  more  highly 
heated,  for  example,  or  charged  with  electrical  po- 
tential by  the  surrounding  solar  systems,  or  other- 
wise, we  should  expect  a  similar  result  to  ensue, — 
that  the  currents  would  he  increased  suddenly,  both 
in  quantity  and  intensity,  and  all  the  phenomena  of 
"  blazing"  stars  be  revealed  in  the  precise  order  in 
which  we  see  them.  Professor  Proctor  seems  to 
have  had  some  such  idea  of  space  vaguely  in  his 
mind  when  he  says,  in  his  "  Familiar  Essays," 
"One  is  invited  to  believe  that  the  star  may  have 
been  carried  by  its  proper  motions  into  regions 
where  there  is  a  more  uniform  distribution  of  the 
material  whence  this  orb  recruits  its  fires.  It  may 
be  that,  in  the  consideration  of  such  causes  of  vari- 
ation affecting  our  sun  in  long-past  ages,  a  more 
satisfactory  explanation  than  any  yet  obtained  may 
be  found  of  the  problem  geologists  found  so  per- 
plexing,— the  former  existence  of  a  tropical  climate 
in  places  within  the  temperate  zone,  or  even  near 
the  arctic  regions.  Sir  John  Herschel  long  since 
pointed  to  the  variation  of  the  sun  as  a  possible 
cause  of  such  changes  of  climate."  In  confirma- 
tion of  the  view  that  such  changes  may  be  due  to 
the  passage  of  a  solar  system  into  or  through  such 
a  "  Gulf  Stream"  of  space,  we  quote  the  following 
from  Professor  Proctor's  "  Suns  in  Flames  :"  "  It  is 
noteworthy  that  all  the  stars  which  have  blazed  out 
suddenly,  except  one,  have  appeared  in  a  particular 
region  of  the  heavens, — the  zone  of  the  Milky 
Way  (all,  too,  in  one-half  of  that  zone).  The 
single  exception  is  the  star  in  the  Northern  Crown, 


192     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  that  star  appeared  in  a  region  which  I  have 
found  to  be  connected  with  the  Milky  Way  by  a 
well-marked  stream  of  stars  ;  not  a  stream  of  a  few 
stars  scattered  here  and  there,  but  a  stream  where 
thousands  of  stars  are  closely  aggregated  together, 
though  not  quite  so  closely  as  to  form  a  visible  ex- 
tension of  the  Milky  Way.  .  .  .  Now,  the  Milky 
Way  and  the  outlying  streams  of  stars  connected 
with  it  seem  to  form  a  region  of  the  stellar  uni- 
verse where  fashioning  processes  are  still  at  work." 
In  just  such  regions  of  potential  energy  should  we 
look  for  such  currents  in  space,  as,  on  our  own 
earth,  the  Gulf  Stream  and  the  trade-winds,  as  well 
as  cyclones  and  other  atmospheric  movements,  find 
their  origin  under  precisely  parallel  circumstances, 
— to  wit,  the  outpour  upon  and  direct  precipita- 
tion of  increased  quantities  of  heat  at  the  tropics 
or  other  local  centers  of  such  development.  The 
effects  of  such  an  increase  of  quantity  and  potential 
in  an  electrical  current  are  clearly  illustrated  in  the 
device  previously  referred  to,  in  which  electrolytic 
decomposition  was  effected  in  a  pail  of  water ;  we 
find  it  also  in  the  burning  out  of  the  brushes  and 
commutators  in  dynamo-electric  machines  and  in 
telegraphic  apparatus  during  thunder-storms  and 
the  like.  Allowing  a  solar  system  a  drift  through 
space  only  equal  to  that  of  our  own,  which  has  a 
relatively  slow  movement,  it  would  traverse  such  a 
"  Gulf  Stream"  of  space  seven  hundred  thousand 
miles  wide  in  a  single  day.  But  it  may  not  even 
have  passed  through ;  it  may  merely  have  grazed 
the  margin  of  such  a  current ;  for  the  motions  of 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      193 

solar  systems  are  not  controlled  by  the  same  forces 
as  those  upon  which  their  electrical  energies  de- 
pend. 

Professor  Ball,  in  his  chapter  on  the  great  heat- 
wave of  1892,  says,  "  Towards  the  end  of  July 
an  extraordinarily  high  temperature,  even  for  that 
period  of  the  year,  prevailed  over  a  very  large  part 
of  the  North  American  continent.  The  so-called 
heat-wave  then  seems  to  have  travelled  eastward 
and  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean;  ...  a  fortnight 
after  the  occurrence  of  unusually  great  heat  in  the 
New  World  there  was  a  similar  experience  in  the 
Old  World.  .  .  .  This  discussion  will  at  all  events 
enable  us  to  make  some  reply  to  the  question  which 
has  often  been  asked,  as  to  what  was  the  cause  of 
the  great  heat-wave.  ...  It  is,  however,  quite  pos- 
sible that  certain  changes  in  progress  on  the  sun 
may  act  in  a  specific  manner  on  our  climate.  .  .  . 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  local,  if  not  general, 
changes  in  the  sun's  temperature  must  be  the 
accompaniment  of  the  violent  disturbances  by 
which  our  luminary  is  now  and  then  agitated.  It 
is,  indeed,  well  known  that  there  are  occasional 
outbreaks  of  solar  activity,  and  that  these  recur  in 
a  periodic  manner ;  it  is  accordingly  not  without 
interest  to  notice  that  the  present  year  has  been  one 
of  the  periods  of  this  activity.  We  are  certainly 
not  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  any  connection  has 
been  definitely  established  between  a  season  of 
exuberant  sun-spots  and  a  season  remarkable  for 
excessive  warmth ;  but,  as  we  know  that  there  is  a 
connection  between  the  magnetic  condition  of  the 
i  n  17 


194     SOURCE   AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

earth  and  the  state  of  solar  activity,  it  is  by  no 
means  impossible  that  climate  and  sun-spots  may 
also  stand  in  some  relationship  to  each  other." 
These  local  deviations  are  doubtless  due  to  plan- 
etary positions  with  reference  to  the  sun,  but  more 
general  variations  must  depend  upon  the  constitu- 
tion of  such  parts  of  space  as  the  solar  system  may 
occupy;  but  even  then  they  will  be  but  temporary, 
since  the  sun's  volume  will  rapidly  expand  or  con- 
tract so  as  finally  to  restore  the  normal  emission  of 
solar  heat,  as  will  be  further  explained  later  on  in 
this  work. 

There  are  other  causes  also,  readily  conceivable, 
for  such  increased  electrical  action ;  for  instance, 
in  that  thickly-peopled  region  of  space,  two  solar 
systems  adjacent  might  easily  have  their  exterior 
planets  so  related  to  each  other  as  suddenly,  at 
their  points  of  nearest  approach,  to  cause  one  or 
more  to  direct  an  abnormally  large  electrical  cur- 
rent into  the  sun  of  the  adjacent  system ;  this 
would  correspond  in  electric  energy,  in  fact,  to  a 
violent  "  perturbation"  in  its  orbit  by  the  action  of 
gravity  produced  by  a  neighboring  planet  or  sys- 
tem. No  reversal  of  polarity  could  take  place 
between  these  planets  under  these  circumstances, 
any  more  than  between  the  earth  and  the  moon.  In 
some  portions  of  the  Milky  Way,  doubtless,  suns 
blaze  by  dozens  across  the  sky  at  night,  and  by 
day  as  well,  to  which,  in  our  more  solitary  skies, 
we  are  strangers.  Revolving  in  perfect  harmony, 
perturbations  must  nevertheless  be  frequent,  and 
to  what  limits  they  may  there  be  confined  we  shall 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      195 

never  know  until  we  realize  the  extent  of  these 
galaxies  and  the  relative  contiguity  of  their  solar 
systems  to  each  other.  It  is  enough  to  show  how 
such  variations  may  occur ;  in  what  particular  way 
they  do  occur  does  not  affect  the  question  of  their 
origin.  Even  if  such  increased  energy  were  to  con- 
tinue by  permanently  increased  planetary  action,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  a  corresponding 
permanent  increase  of  light  and  heat  would  result 
on  the  part  of  the  sun,  for  its  density  is  such  (only 
one-fourth  that  of  the  earth)  that,  under  the  tre- 
mendous force  of  its  gravity  (twenty-seven  and 
one-tenth  times  that  of  the  earth),  its  constituents 
cannot  be  maintained  in  solid  form,  but  must  be, 
as  before  stated,  either  liquid  or  gaseous,  and  per- 
haps in  part  both.  Now,  as  it  has  been  computed 
that  the  sun,  by  contraction  to  its  present  density, 
would  have  evolved  its  present  light  and  heat  for  a 
period  of  millions  of  years,  it  is  obvious  that  any 
increase  in  its  present  volume,  without  increase  of 
mass,  would  produce  precisely  opposite  and  com- 
pensated results,  so  that  the  sun  could  receive  from 
outside  sources  as  much  heat  as  would  expand  its 
present  volume  to  that  at  the  initial  point  of  such 
assumed  condensation  without  increased  emission 
of  light  and  heat.  The  sun  is  thus,  in  effect,  a  self- 
compensating  machine,  and  its  passage  through  a 
region  of  increased  electrical  generation  would  first 
manifest  itself  in  a  vast  increase  of  brilliancy,  due 
to  higher  incandescence  of  its  hydrogen  envelope ; 
this,  in  turn,  would  be  communicated  to  the  deeper 
structures  of  the  sun,  producing  increased  volatili- 


196     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

zation  and  dark  absorption  bands,  and  finally  to  the 
whole  solar  mass,  expanding  its  volume  in  propor- 
tion to  the  heat  absorbed.  Hence  we  should  see 


Phenomena  of  a  new  or  temporary  star,  a  "star  in  flames."—!,  normal 
state  of  star,  photosphere  more  highly  heated  than  chromosphere ;  2,  stage 
of  highest  incandescence,  chromosphere  expanded  and  more  highly  heated 
than  photosphere,  bright  line  spectrum ;  3,  stage  of  recession,  chromosphere 
diminishing  in  incandescence,  heat  acting  upon  solar  core,  numerous  spots, 
volatilization  of  metallic  surface,  spectrum  of  dark  absorption  bands;  4, 
return  to  normal  state  again. 

precisely  the  phenomena  that  we  do  see  in  flaming 
stars  or  so-called  new  stars.  We  find  such  com- 
pensations all  through  nature,  and  it  is  simply  in 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      197 

accordance  with  her  universal  laws  that  they  occur. 
It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  the  catastrophe 
which  is  foretold  in  the  bihlical  record  as  the  ter- 
mination of  all  human  life  on  earth,  for  the  present 
cycle,  at  least,  should  he  almost  literally  in  accord- 
ance with  the  phenomena  characteristic  of  such  an 
increase  of  solar  energy,  and  one  produced  in  some 
such  manner.  If  the  temperature  of  the  solar  at- 
mosphere were  rapidly  raised  hy  increased  plan- 
etary action  to  a  point  which  would  reverse  the 
lines  of  hydrogen  from  dark  to  bright,  say  to  a 
brightness  eight  hundred  times  that  of  the  normal, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  temporary  star  cited,  though 
the  heat  would  not,  of  course,  be  increased  in  any 
such  proportion,  yet  the  heavens  would  be  indeed 
rolled  up  as  a  scroll,  and  all  life  would  be  extin- 
guished in  a  very  brief  period.  But  the  planets 
would  continue  to  roll  along  their  orbits,  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  earth's  mass  would  still  be  intact, 
and  after  a  few  days  or  weeks  the  sun  would  begin 
to  decline  in  brightness,  the  volatilized  vapors 
would  slowly  recede  within  the  solar  atmosphere, 
and  the  temperature  would  gradually  fall  again  to 
its  normal,  leaving,  however,  a  lifeless  world  to  roll 
on  its  way  henceforth,  but  as  bright  and  cheerful 
in  all  its  possibilities,  when  the  former  conditions 
had  gradually  become  restored,  as  before.  Perhaps 
some  distant  astronomer  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Sirius — if  we  shall  have  travelled  so  far  away  by 
that  time — might  send  a  note  to  the  morning 
papers  to  announce  that  the  temporary  star  near 
Alpha  Centauri  had  again  receded  to  the  tenth 

17* 


198     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

magnitude.  In  due  time — perhaps  a  thousand 
years — all  would  be  ready  for  a  new  development 
of  life,  and  the  cycle  would  continue  as  before. 
Perchance,  too,  in  some  deep  abyss,  or  buried  far 
beneath  the  surface,  some  germs  of  life  might  still 
continue  to  exist ;  and  from  these,  like  the  seeds 
resurrected  from  buried  mummies,  a  new  life  might 
again  begin,  guided  along  once  more  through  vast 
ages  in  a  progressive  ascent  from  development  to 
development  until,  in  some  new  and  strange  forms, 
the  higher  types  of  life  might  again  appear.  To 
these  there  would  indeed  be  revealed  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth.  Who  knows  how  many  such 
cycles  of  life  may  have  come  and  gone  on  earth, 
in  which,  like  the  dwellers  of  Jerusalem,  new 
peoples  have  built  new  cities,  one  above  another, 
upon  the  unknown  graves  of  the  past?  In  the 
words  of  Tennyson, — 

"  A  wondrous  eft  was  of  old  the  Lord  and  Master  of  earth, 
For  him  did  his  high  sun  flame,  and  his  river  billowing  ran, 
And  he  felt  himself  in  his  force  to  be  Nature's  crowning  race. 
As  nine  months  go  to  the  shaping  an  infant  ripe  for  his  birth, 
So  many  a  million  of  ages  have  gone  to  the  making  man : 
He  now  is  first,  but  is  he  the  last?" 

Whatever  the  coming,  the  progress,  or  the  going 
of  life  on  earth,  the  course  of  our  solar  system 
will  go  on  the  same,  the  processes  of  creation  un- 
changed and  her  mechanism  unimpaired.  It  is 
obvious  that  no  such  conditions  could  prevail  in 
the  return  to  unorganizable  chaos  which  must  be 
the  consequence  of  any  possible  planetary  collisions 
in  space.  No  conceivable  process  of  creation  could 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      199 

return  a  system  disrupted  into  meteorites  to  an 
operative  solar  system  again.  Even  the  nebular 
hypothesis  contemplates  nothing  of  that  sort  as,  by 
the  wildest  conjecture,  ever  possible.  But  with  us 
the  danger  is  far  distant.  Professor  Proctor  says, 
in  his  article  "  Suns  in  Flames,"  "  As  Sir  William 
Herschel  long  since  pointed  out,  we  can  recognize 
in  various  parts  of  the  heavens  various  stages  of 
development,  and  chief  among  the  regions  where 
as  yet  nature's  work  seems  incomplete  is  the 
Galactic  zone, — especially  that  half  of  it  where 
the  Milky  Way  consists  of  irregular  streams  and 
clouds  of  stellar  light.  As  there  is  no  reason  for 
believing  that  our  sun  belongs  to  this  part  of  the 
galaxy,  but,  on  the  contrary,  good  ground  for  con- 
sidering that  he  belongs  to  the  class  of  insulated 
stars,  few  of  which  have  shown  signs  of  irregular 
variation,  while  none  have  ever  blazed  suddenly 
out  with  many  hundred  times  their  former  lustre, 
we  may  fairly  infer  a  very  high  degree  of  proba- 
bility in  favor  of  the  belief  that,  for  many  ages 
still  to  come,  the  sun  will  continue  steadily  to  dis- 
charge his  duties  as  fire,  light,  and  life  of  the  solar 
system."  The  passage  of  our  system  through  grad- 
ually changing  regions  of  space,  as  contrasted  with 
streams  or  vortices,  could  not  affect  our  sun's  light 
even  temporarily,  as  the  contraction  and  expansion 
of  its  volume  would  fully  compensate  for  any  such 
gradual  or  partial  variation,  and,  by  position,  he  is 
far  from  likely  to  pass  into  any  of  those  whirlpools 
or  torrents  of  space  which  seem  to  mark  at  irregular 
intervals  the  region  of  the  irregularly  variable  stars. 


200     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Allied  in  appearance  to  such  stars  which  sud- 
denly flame  out  in  space,  but  totally  different  in  re- 
ality, are  comets.  These  strangers  to  our  own  sys- 
tem have  excited  the  wonder  and  astonishment  of 
mankind  from  the  earliest  ages.  They  seem  to  defy 
all  rules  and  all  explanation ;  but,  when  properly 
examined,  they  will  fall  inevitably  into  the  general 
scheme  of  the  source  and  mode  of  solar  energy 
which  we  have  endeavored  to  present.  These 
bodies  enter  our  solar  system  from  without.  Ap- 
pleton's  Cyclopaedia  says,  "  Schiaparelli,  to  whom 
the  discovery  is  in  part  due,  considers  the  meteors 
to  be  dispersed  portions  of  the  comet's  original 
substance, — that  is,  of  the  substance  with  which 
the  comet  entered  the  solar  domain."  Professor  Proc- 
tor, "  Meteoric  Astronomy,"  says,  "  A  word  or  two 
may  be  permitted  on  the  question  of  the  condition 
of  comets  freshly  arriving  on  the  scene  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem. It  is  assumed  sometimes  that  the  train  of 
meteors  already  exists  when  the  comet  first  comes 
within  the  solar  domain."  In  the  "Romance  of 
Astronomy"  (R.  Kalley  Miller,  M.A.)  it  is  said, 
"  In  a  sort  of  debatable  territory  between  our  own 
solar  system  and  the  infinite  stellar  universe  around 
we  come  upon  these  erratic  and  anomalous  bodies 
— the  comets ;  some  of  which  have  accidentally  be- 
come permanent  attendants  upon  our  sun;  others 
have  only  paid  it  a  single  casual  visit  in  the  course 
of  their  wanderings  through  space,  and  are  not 
likely  again  to  come  within  the  range  of  its 
attracting  influence;  while  countless  millions  are 
doubtless  scattered  throughout  the  realms  of  the 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      201 

infinite,  whose  existence  will  never  be  revealed  to 
human  ken  at  all."  Professor  Helmholtz,  in  fact 
(see  addendum  to  his  lecture  on  the  origin  of  the 
planetary  system),  advanced  the  idea  in  a  specu- 
lative way,  that  our  terrestrial  life  might  have  had 
its  origin  in  one  of  these  meteoric  bodies  by  the 
"transmission  of  organisms  through  space."  In 
Professor  Proctor's  article  on  comets  ("  Myste- 
ries of  Time  and  Space")  he  says,  "  The  paths  fol- 
lowed by  comets  show  no  resemblance  either  to  the 
planetary  orbits  or  to  each  other.  Here  we  see  a 
comet  travelling  in  a  path  of  moderate  extent  and 
not  very  eccentric;  then  another  which  rushes 
from  a  distance  of  two  or  three  thousand  millions 
of  miles,  approaches  the  sun  with  ever-increasing 
velocity  until  nearer  to  him  than  parts  of  his  own 
corona  (as  seen  in  eclipses),  sweeps  around  him 
with  inconceivable  rapidity,  and  makes  off  again 
to  where  the  aphelion  of  its  orbit  lies  far  out  in 
space  beyond  the  most  distant  known  planet, — Nep- 
tune. Some  comets  travel  in  a  direct,  some  in  a 
retrograde  path ;  a  few  near  the  plane  of  the  earth's 
orbit,  many  in  planes  showing  every  variety  of 
inclination.  Some  comets  regularly  return  after 
intervals  of  a  few  years ;  some  after  hundreds  of 
years  ;  others  are  only  seen  once  or  twice,  and  then 
unaccountably  vanish ;  and  not  a  few  show  by  the 
paths  they  follow  that  they  have  come  from  inter- 
stellar space  to  pay  our  system  but  a  single  visit, 
passing  out  again  to  traverse  we  know  not  what 
other  systems  or  regions.  .  .  .  When  we  have  said 
that  these  objects  obey  the  law  of  gravity,  we  have 


202     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

mentioned  the  only  circumstance — as  it  would 
appear — in  which  they  conform  to  the  relations 
observed  in  terrestrial  and  planetary  arrangements. 
And  even  this  law — the  widest  yet  revealed  to  man 
— they  seem  to  obey  half  unwillingly.  We  see  the 
head  of  a  comet  tracing  out  systematically  enough 
its  proper  orbit,  while  the  comet's  tail  is  all  unruly 
and  disobedient.  .  .  ,  The  fact,  then,  is  demon- 
strated that  two  of  the  meteor  streams  encountered 
by  the  earth  are  so  far  associated  with  two  comets  as 
to  travel  on  the  same  orbits.  "We  may  not  unsafely 
infer  that  all  the  meteor  systems  are  in  like  manner 
associated  with  other  comets.  Nor  is  it  very  rash 
to  assume  that  all  comets  are  in  like  manner  asso- 
ciated with  meteor  systems." 

Concerning  the  influence  of  gravitation  of  the 
planets,  the  same  author  says  ("  Meteoric  Astron- 
omy"), "Now,  the  circumstances  under  which  a 
comet  approaching  the  sun  on  a  parabolic  or  hy- 
perbolic orbit  can  be  thus  affected  must  be  regarded 
as  exceptional.  The  planet's  influence  must,  in  the 
first  place,  be  very  energetically  exercised ;  in  other 
words,  the  arriving  comet  must  pass  very  close  to 
the  planet,  for  under  any  other  circumstances  the 
sun's  influence  so  enormously  outvies  the  planet's 
that  the  figure  of  the  cometic  orbit  would  be  very 
little  affected.  Moreover,  the  planet's  attraction 
must  produce  an  important  balance  of  retardation. 
The  planet  will  inevitably  accelerate  the  comet  up 
to  a  certain  point,  and  afterwards  will  retard  it; 
the  latter  influence  must  greatly  exceed  the  former. 
To  show  how  greatly  the  comet  must  be  retarded, 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      203 

it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  that  the  actual  ve- 
locity of  the  November  meteors  when  they  cross  the 
orbit  of  Uranus  is  less  than  one-third  of  the  velocity 
with  which  Uranus  himself  travels,  but  their  ve- 
locity at  the  same  distance  from  the  sun,  when  they 
were  approaching  him  from  some  distant  stellar 
domain,  exceeded  the  velocity  of  Uranus  in  his 
orbit  in  the  proportion  of  about  seven  to  five.  .  .  . 
It  follows,  not  merely  as  a  probable  inference,  but, 
I  think,  as  a  demonstrated  conclusion,  that  if  the 
November  meteors  came  originally  into  our  system 
as  a  comet  travelling  sunward  from  infinity,  then 
either  that  comet  was  very  compact  or  else  Uranus 
captured  only  a  small  portion  of  the  comet,  the 
remaining  portions  moving  thenceforth  on  orbits 
wholly  different  from  the  path  of  the  November 
meteors.  .  .  .  No  other  planet  than  Uranus  can 
have  brought  about  the  subjection  of  this  comet  to 
solar  rule."  In  his  article  on  comets  he  says, 
"  It  may  be  well  here  to  consider  a  case  in  which 
some  active  force  (other  than  gravity)  exerted  by 
the  sun  seems  to  have  brought  the  destruction  of 
a  comet,  or  at  least  to  have  broken  up  the  comet 
into  unrecognizable  fragments."  He  refers  to 
Biela's  comet,  with  an  orbital  period  of  six  and 
two-thirds  years,  and  a  path  which  was  found  to 
approach  very  near  to  the  path  of  the  earth.  In 
1832  the  comet  crossed  the  earth's  track  several 
weeks  before  the  arrival  of  the  earth  at  the  same 
point  without  appreciable  interference.  On  its 
second  return,  in  1845-46,  it  was  found  to  be  di- 
vided into  two  comets  travelling  side  by  side;  in 


204     SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

1852  they  reappeared,  still  divided,  and  gradually 
diverging  from  each  other.  Since  then  they  have 
never  reappeared,  though  diligently  sought  for  at 
every  period.  Professor  Proctor  adds,  "  It  has 
been  seen  again,  though  not  as  a  comet;  nay,  the 
occasion  on  which  it  was  seen  in  the  way  referred 
to  was  predicted,  and  the  prediction  fulfilled,  even 
in  details.  For  a  full  account  of  its  reappearance — 
as  a  meteor  stream — I  refer  the  reader  to  my  essay 
on  Biela's  comet  in  i  Familiar  Science  Studies.' ' 

In  Miller's  "  Romance  of  Astronomy"  we  read, 
"  Encke's  comet,  which  possesses  the  smallest  orbit 
of  any  connected  with  our  system,  is  sensibly 
drawing  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  sun  at  every 
revolution."  In  Professor  Proctor's  "  Cometic 
Mysteries,"  the  author  says,  "  We  hear  it  stated 
that  the  nucleus  of  a  comet  is  made  up  of  meteoric 
stones  (Professor  P.  Gr.  Tait  says — for  unknown 
reasons — that  they  resemble  '  paving  stones  or  even 
bricks')  as  confidently  as  though  the  earth  had  at 
some  time  passed  through  the  nucleus  of  a  comet, 
and  some  of  our  streets  were  now  paved  with  stones 
which  had  fallen  to  the  earth  on  such  an  occasion. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  that  has  yet  been  proved  is 
that  meteoric  bodies  follow  in  the  track  (which  is 
very  different  from  the  tail)  of  some  known  comets, 
and  that  probably  all  comets  are  followed  by  trains 
of  meteors.  These  may  have  come  out  of  the  head 
or  nucleus  in  some  way  as  yet  unexplained ;  but  it 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  they  have  done  so,  and 
it  is  by  many  astronomers  regarded  as  more  than 
doubtful.  The  most  important  point  to  be  noticed 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      205 

in  the  behavior  of  large  comets  as  they  approach 
the  sun  is,  that  usually  the  side  of  the  coma  which 
lies  towards  the  sun  is  the  scene  of  intense  disturb- 
ance. Streams  of  luminous  matter  seem  to  rise 
continually  towards  the  sun,  attaining  a  certain  dis- 
tance from  the  head,  when,  assuming  a  cloud-like 
appearance,  they  seem  to  form  an  envelope  around 
the  nucleus.  This  envelope  gradually  increases  its 
distance  from  the  sun,  growing  fainter  and  larger, 
while  within  it  the  process  is  repeated  and  a  new 
envelope  is  formed.  This,  in  turn,  ascends  from  the 
nucleus,  expanding  as  it  does  so,  while  within  it  a 
new  envelope  is  formed.  Meanwhile  the  first  one 
formed  has  grown  fainter,  perhaps  has  disappeared. 
But  sometimes  the  process  goes  on  so  rapidly  (a 
day  or  two  sufficing  for  the  formation  of  a  com- 
plete new  envelope)  that  several  envelopes  will  be 
seen  at  the  same  time, — the  outermost  faintest,  the 
innermost  most  irregular  in  shape  and  most  varied 
in  brightness,  while  the  envelope  or  envelopes  be- 
tween are  the  best  developed  and  most  regular. 
The  matter  raised  up  in  these  envelopes  seems  to 
have  undergone  a  certain  change  of  character, 
causing  it  no  longer  to  obey  the  sun's  attractive 
influence,  but  to  experience  a  strong  repulsive 
action  from  him,  whereby  it  is  apparently  swept 
away  with  great  rapidity  to  form  the  tail.  '  It 
flows  past  the  nucleus/  says  Dr.  Huggins,  '  on  all 
sides,  still  ever  expanding  and  shooting  backward 
until  a  tail  is  formed  in  the  direction  opposite  to  the 
sun.  This  tail  is  usually  curved,  though  sometimes 
rays  or  extra  tails  sensibly  straight  are  also  seen.'  " 

18 


206      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

In  "  The  Sun  as  a  Perpetual  Machine,"  Pro- 
fessor Proctor  says,  "  Take,  again,  the  phenomena 
of  comets,  which  still  remain  among  the  great- 
est of  nature's  mysteries.  We  have  reason  to 
believe  .  .  .  that  the  nucleus  of  a  comet  consists 
of  an  aggregation  of  stones  similar  to  meteorites. 
Adopting  this  view,  and  assuming  that  these  stones 
have  absorbed  somewhere  gases  to  the  amount  of 
six  times  their  volume  (taken  at  atmospheric  press- 
ure), we  may  ask,  What  will  be  the  eifect  of  such  a 
mass  of  stones  advancing  towards  the  sun  at  a  ve- 
locity reaching  in  perihelion  the  prodigious  rate  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty-six  miles  per  second  (as 
observed  in  the  comet  of  1843),  being  twenty-three 
times  our  orbital  rate  of  motion  ?"  Professor  Ball 
says,  "One  of  the  most  important  results  of  the 
great  shower  of  1866  was  the  demonstration  that 
the  swarm  of  little  bodies  to  which  that  shower 
owed  its  origin  was  connected  with  a  comet.  The 
swarm  was  found,  in  fact,  to  follow  the  exact  track 
which  the  comet  pursued  around  the  sun.  ...  Of 
this  connection  between  the  cometary  orbits  and 
revolving  swarms  of  meteors  many  other  instances 
could  be  cited.  I  may  refer  to  the  remarkable  lists 
published  by  the  British  Association,  in  which,  be- 
side the  name  of  the  comet  or  the  designation 
which  astronomers  had  affixed  to  it,  the  meteoric 
swarm  with  which  the  comet  is  associated  is  also 
given.  ...  On  these  grounds  it  appears  to  be  per- 
fectly certain  that  the  origin  of  the  shooting  stars 
which  appear  in  swarms  cannot  be  disassociated 
from  the  origin  of  the  comets  by  which  those 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      207 

swarms  are  accompanied."  The  author  makes  a 
distinction  between  such  ordinary  shooting  stars 
and  meteorites,  and  attributes  the  appearance  of 
the  latter  on  earth  to  masses  thrown  forth  from 
some  volcano  somewhere,  but  this  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  special  phenomena  to  be  interpreted.  It 
may  be  said,  however,  that  the  presence  of  olefiant 
gas  as  one  of  the  occluded  gases  in  a  meteorite 
(four  and  fifty-five-hundredths  per  cent.,  as  stated 
by  Professor  Proctor,  in  his  article  "  The  Sun  as  a 
Perpetual  Machine"),  and  the  remarkable  fact, 
stated  in  the  article  "  Spectrum  Analysis"  in  Ap- 
pleton's  Cyclopaedia,  that,  in  Winnecke's  comet  of 
1868,  "  the  bands  agree  in  position  with  those  ob- 
tained as  the  spectrum  of  carbon,  by  passing  the 
electric  spark  through  olefiant  gas,"  would  lead 
one  to  consider  a  cometic  origin,  for  this  particular 
meteorite  at  least,  to  be  highly  probable.  Pro- 
fessor Ball  further  says,  "  There  have  been  several 
instances  in  which  a  comet  has  approached  so  close 
to  a  planet  that  the  attraction  between  the  two 
bodies  must  have  had  significant  influence  on  the 
planet,  if  the  cometary  mass  had  been  at  all  com- 
parable with  that  of  the  more  robust  body.  The 
most  celebrated  instance  is  presented  in  the  case  of 
Lexell's  comet,  which  happened  to  cross  the  track 
of  Jupiter.  The  effect  upon  this  body  was  so  over- 
whelming that  it  was  wrenched  from  its  original 
path  and  started  afresh  along  a  wholly  different 
track."  The  same  writer,  speaking  of  the  tails  of 
comets,  says,  "  I  have  no  intention  to  discuss  here 
the  vexed  question  of  the  tails  of  comets.  T  do 


208     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

not  now  inquire  whether  the  repulsion  by  which 
the  tail  is  produced  be  due  to  the  intense  radiation 
from  the  sun,  or  to  electricity,  or  to  some  other 
agent.  It  is  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to 
note  that,  even  if  the  tails  of  comets  do  gravitate 
towards  the  sun,  the  attraction  is  obscured  by  a 
more  powerful  repulsive  force.  .  .  .  Nor  do  the 
directions  in  which  the  comets  move  exhibit  any 
conformity ;  some  move  round  the  sun  in  one  di- 
rection, some  move  in  the  opposite  direction.  Even 
the  planes  which  contain  the  orbits  of  the  comets 
are  totally  different  from  each  other.  Instead  of 
being  inclined  at  only  a  very  few  degrees  to  their 
mean  position,  the  planes  of  the  comets  hardly 
follow  any  common  law;  they  are  inclined  at  all 
sorts  of  directions.  In  no  respect  do  the  comets 
obey  those  principles  which  are  necessary  to  pre- 
vent constitutional  disorder  in  the  planetary  sys- 
tem. .  .  .  Now,  all  we  have  hitherto  seen  with 
regard  to  comets  tends  to  show  that  the  masses  of 
comets  are  extremely  small.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  measure  them,  but  have  always  failed, 
because  the  scales  in  which  we  have  attempted  to 
weigh  them  have  been  too  coarse  to  weigh  any- 
thing of  the  almost  spiritual  texture  of  a  comet. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  go  as  far  as  some  have  done, 
and  to  say  that  the  weight  of  a  large  comet  may 
be  only  a  few  pounds  or  a  few  ounces.  It  might 
be  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  weight  of  a 
large  comet  was  thousands  of  tons,  though  even 
thousands  of  tons  would  be  far  too  small  a  weight 
to  admit  of  being  measured  by  the  very  coarse 


TEMPORARY  STARS,  METEORS,  AND   COMETS.      209 

balance  which  is  at  our  disposal."  In  the  chapter 
"  Visitors  from  the  Sky,"  the  same  author  says, 
"As  such  a  comet  in  its  progress  across  the 
heavens  passes  between  us  and  the  stars,  those 
stars  are  often  seen  twinkling  brilliantly  right 
through  the  many  thousand  miles  of  cometary 
matter  which  their  rays  have  to  traverse.  The 
lightest  haze  in  our  atmosphere  would  suffice  to 
extinguish  the  faint  gleam  of  these  small  stars; 
indeed,  a  few  feet  of  mist  would  have  more  power 
of  obstructing  the  stellar  light  than  cometary  ma- 
terial scores  of  thousands  of  miles  thick.  It  is  true 
that  the  central  portions  of  many  of  these  comets 
often  exhibit  much  greater  density  than  is  found 
in  the  exterior  regions;  still,  in  the  great  majority 
of  such  objects  there  is  no  opacity,  even  in  the 
densest  part,  sufficient  to  put  out  a  star.  In  the 
case  of  the  more  splendid  bodies  of  this  descrip- 
tion, it  may  be  supposed  that  the  matter  is  some- 
what more  densely  aggregated  as  well  as  more 
voluminous ;  still,  however,  it  will  be  remembered 
that  the  great  comet  of  1858  passed  over  Arcturus, 
and  that  the  star  was  seen  shining  brilliantly,  not- 
withstanding the  interposition  of  a  cometary  cur- 
tain millions  of  miles  in  thickness.  So  far  as  I 
know,  no  case  is  known  in  which  the  nucleus  of  a 
really  bright  and  great  comet  has  been  witnessed 
in  the  act  of  passage  over  a  considerable  star.  It 
would  indeed  be  extremely  interesting  to  ascertain 
whether  in  such  case  the  star  experienced  any  con- 
siderable diminution  in  its  lustre." 
o  18* 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    PHENOMENA    OF    COMETS. 

FROM  the  extracts  thus  cited  we  may  form  a 
fairly  clear  idea  of  the  phenomena  which  comets 
present,  and  these  facts  represent  about  all  that  we 
know  of  these  mysterious  objects.  They  approach 
the  sun  in  a  nearly  radial  direction,  thus  cutting 
the  planetary  orbits  transversely.  They  approach 
the  sun  from  all  directions  and  at  all  angles,  with- 
out reference  to  the  common  plane  in  which  all  the 
planetary  orbits  lie.  They  have  no  rotation  on 
their  own  axes,  as  the  planets  have,  but,  like  an 
aggregated  mass  of  meteorites  or  cosmical  dust, 
rush  inward  from  the  exterior  realms  of  space,  so 
that  their  course  is  diametrically  opposite  that  of 
the  planets  and  the  other  cosmical  bodies  which 
constitute  our  solar  system.  Such  a  body  as  a 
comet,  in  fact,  would  present  in  its  approach  to  our 
solar  system  very  much  the  phenomena  of  an  ap- 
proaching exterior  sun,  corresponding  far  more 
closely  in  appearance  and  behavior  to  our  own  sun 
than  to  any  of  the  planets.  Such  a  body  could  not 
generate  positive  electricity,  as  the  planets  do,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  must  have  an  electrosphere  of 
negative,  or  at  least  neutral,  polarity.  On  its  ap- 
proach to  our  planetary  system  the  batteries  of  all 
the  planets  would  be  at  once  turned  upon  the  in- 
truder, and  it  would  be  rapidly  thrown  into  the 
210 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  COMETS.  211 

same  state  of  active  electrical  polarity  as  the  sun. 
The  aqueous  vapor  condensed  around  its  nucleus 
by  gravity  in  its  approach  through  space,  or  buried 
among  the  meteoric  particles  constituting  the 


Repulsion  of  glow  in  partial  vacuum  compared  with  phenomena  of  sun 
and  comet.— C,  charged  electrical  conductor;  A,  electrical  discharge  in 
partial  vacuum,  repelled  by  like  electricity  of  C;  B,  Henry's  comet,  C  repre- 
senting the  sun. 

comet,  would  be  necessarily  decomposed  into  its 
constituent  gases,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  sun,  by 
the  positive  electrical  currents  from  the  planetary 
electrospheres,  and  the  disassociated  hydrogen 
would  form  the  negative  electrosphere  of  the 
comet,  glowing  with  its  own  luminosity,  by  gaseous 
incandescence.  "We  should  then  observe,  during 
its  continued  approach  to  the  sun,  phenomena  simi- 
lar to  those  which  we  might  expect  to  manifest 
themselves  during  the  approach  of  a  minute  solar 
body  towards  the  sun,  characterized  by  a  rapid  in- 
crease of  velocity,  due  to  attraction  of  gravity,  and 
tremendous  mutual  repulsion  between  the  solar 
and  cometic  electrospheres.  We  should  see  the 


212     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

luminous  hydrogen  and  associated  gases  boiling 
upward,  and  thence  drawn  forward  from  the  nu- 
cleus by  the  combined  gravity  of  the  sun's  mass, 
that  of  the  planetary  masses,  and  the  opposite 
polarity  of  the  planetary  electrospheres,  while  they 
would  be,  at  the  same  time,  repelled  backward  by 
the  enormous  repulsive  force  of  the  negative  elec- 
trosphere  of  the  sun.  As  a  result,  we  should  find 
these  gases  in  a  state  of  ebullition,  forced  forward 
under  great  excitement  and  disturbance,  boiling, 
eddying  about,  driven  to  and  fro  in  all  directions 
until  the  sun's  repulsive  force  had  overcome  the 
different  attractions,  when  these  luminous  clouds 
or  envelopes  would  be  swept  swiftly  off  to  the  rear, 
as  by  a  powerful  current  of  wind,  around  the  mar- 
gins of  the  nucleus,  and  they  would  be  seen  to 
stream  backward  from  the  sun  as  an  elongated 
envelope  or  tail.  New  volumes  of  gas  would  pour 
to  the  front,  attracted  from  deeper  depths,  and 
these,  on  reaching  the  cometary  electrosphere, 
would  be  again  repelled  by  the  solar  activity  and 
driven  to  the  rear,  while  the  gases  thus  driven 
backward,  themselves  similarly  electrified,  would 
mutually  repel  each  other  as  they  streamed  back- 
ward around  the  margins  of  the  nucleus. 

Let  us  now  see  what  these  gases  are  :  if  they  are 
such  as  appear  in  the  sun's  electrosphere,  we  will 
know  that  such  must  be  their  action ;  if,  on  the 
contrary,  they  are  such  as  appear  in  planetary  elec- 
trospheres, we  will  find  any  such  attempted  ex- 
planation to  be  a  failure.  Quoting  largely  from 
Dr.  Huggins,  Professor  Proctor,  in  his  "  Cometic 


THE  PHENOMENA    OF  COMETS.  213 

Mysteries,"  says,  "  The  spectrum  of  the  brightest 
comet  of  that  year  was  partly  continuous,  and  on 
this  continuous  spectrum  many  of  the  well-known 
Fraunhofer  lines  could  be  traced.  This  made  it 
certain  that  part  of  the  comet's  light  was  reflected 
sunlight,  though  Dr.  Huggins  considers  also  that 
a  part  of  the  continuous  spectrum  of  every  comet 
is  due  to  inherent  light.  On  this  point  some  doubt 
may  be  permitted.  It  is  one  thing  for  special 
bands  to  show  themselves,  for  some  substances 
may  become  self-luminous  under  special  conditions 
at  very  moderate  temperatures ;  it  is  quite  another 
thing  that  the  solid  parts  of  a  comet's  substance 
should  become  incandescent.  I  venture  to  express 
my  opinion  that  this  can  scarcely  happen,  except  in 
the  case  of  comets  which  approach  very  near  to 
the  sun.  Besides  the  continuous  spectrum  with 
dark  lines,  the  photograph  showed  also  a  spectrum  of 
bright  lines.  '  These  lines,'  says  Dr.  Huggins,  <  pos- 
sessed extreme  interest,  for  there  was  certainly 
contained  within  this  hieroglyphic  writing  some 
new  information.  A  discussion  of  the  position  of 
these  new  lines  showed  them  to  be  undoubtedly 
the  same  lines  which  appear  in  certain  compounds 
of  carbon.  Not  long  before  Professors  Liveing 
and  Dewar  had  found  from  their  laboratory  experi- 
ments that  these  lines  are  only  present  when  nitro- 
gen is  also  present,  and  that  they  indicate  a  nitrogen 
compound  of  carbon, — namely,  cyanogen.  Two 
other  bright  groups  were  also  seen  in  the  photograph, 
confirming  the  presence  of  hydrogen, — carbon  and 
nitrogen.'  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  only  a  few 


214     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

days  later  Dr.  H.  Draper  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
photograph  of  the  same  comet's  spectrum.  It  ap- 
peared to  him  to  confirm  Dr.  Huggins's  statements, 
except  only  that  the  dark  Fraunhofer  lines  were 
not  visible,  the  photograph  having  probably  been 
taken  under  less  favorable  conditions.  .  .  .  But 
the  latest  comet  has  brought  with  it  fresh  news. 
Its  spectrum  is  not  like  that  given  by  the  comets 
we  are  considering.  The  bright  lines  of  sodium 
are  seen  in  it,  and  also  other  bright  lines  and 
groups  of  lines  which  have  not  yet  been  shown  to 
be  identical  with  any  belonging  to  the  hydrocarbon 
groups,  but  probably  are  so.  ...  The  cyanogen 
groups  are  not  seen.  .  .  .  But  it  is  manifest  that 
this  comet  underwent  important  changes.  ...  In  April 
was  found  simply  a  faint  continuous  spectrum ;  in 
May  the  three  bands  associated  with  carbon  were 
present,  though  faint,  while  there  was  no  trace 
whatever  of  the  sodium  band.  On  the  contrary, 
in  June  the  nucleus  of  the  comet  gave  a  very 
strong  and  extended  continuous  spectrum  with  an 
excessively  strong  bright  line  in  the  orange-yellow 
identical  with  the  well-known  double  sodium  line 
of  the  solar  spectrum.  On  this  ...  it  is  neces- 
sary to  conclude  that  during  the  last  fortnight  of 
May  the  spectrum  of  Wells's  comet  had  changed 
in  a  manner  of  which  the  history  of  science  fur- 
nishes no  precedent." 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  elements  carbon 
and  hydrogen  closely  resemble  each  other,  not  only 
in  their  multifarious  chemical  affinities  and  re- 
actions, but  in  their  electric  polarities,  and  the 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  COMETS.  215 

hydrocarbon  compounds,  like  their  constituents, 
carbon  and  hydrogen,  are  electrically  similar  to 
each  other,  an  example  of  this  similarity  of  the 
elements  being  found  in  the  identical  action  of  the 
carbon  arc  and  hydrogen  envelope  in  the  heating 
and  lighting  experiments  with  electrical  currents 
hereinbefore  described. 

We  have  already  seen  that  carbon  follows  quite 
a  different  law  from  the  other  concrete  elements,  in 
the  fact  that  its  electrical  resistance  diminishes  as 
the  temperature  rises ;  it  also  differs  widely  from 
the  other  solid  elements  in  its  atomic  heat,  which 
has  a  value  much  less  than  one-half  the  mean  con- 
stant, which  is  6.4.  Of  this  matter  of  specific 
heat,  Professor  Fownes,  in  his  work  on  chemistry 
(Bridges'  edition),  says, "  Dulong  and  Petit  observed 
in  the  course  of  their  investigation  a  most  remark- 
able circumstance.  If  the  specific  heats  of  bodies 
be  computed  upon  equal  weights,  numbers  are 
obtained  all  different  and  exhibiting '  no  simple 
relations  among  themselves;  but  if,  instead  of 
equal  weights,  quantities  be  taken  in  the  propor- 
tion of  the  atomic  weights,  an  almost  perfect  coin- 
cidence in  the  numbers  will  be  observed,  showing 
that  some  exceedingly  intimate  connection  must 
exist  between  the  relations  of  bodies  to  heat  and 
their  chemical  nature ;  and  when  the  circumstance 
is  taken  into  view  that  relations  of  even  a  still 
closer  kind  link  together  chemical  and  electrical 
phenomena,  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  ere 
long  some  law  may  be  discovered  far  more  general 
than  any  with  which  we  are  yet  acquainted  .... 


216     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Nevertheless,  this  law  must  not  be  understood  as 
perfectly  general,  for  there  are  three  elements — 
namely,  carbon,  boron,  and  silicon"  [these  form  a 
single  group  of  elements  in  chemical  classification] 
— "  which  exhibit  decided  exceptions  to  it." 

Organic  chemistry  is  substantially  based  upon 
the  almost  infinitely  interchanging  relations  among 
carbon-hydrogen  radicals,  supplemented  by  a  few 
other  elements.  According  to  Professor  Fownes, 
"  Organic  chemistry  is  in  fact  the  chemistry  of 
carbon  compounds."  The  position  of  carbon  among 
the  elements  is  something  like  that  of  camphor 
among  the  oils,  the  latter  being  a  volatile  oil,  but 
concrete  in  form.  With  a  concrete  element  having 
the  peculiar  character  of  carbon  we  can  well  under- 
stand its  universal  chemical  and  electrical  relation- 
ship with  gaseous  hydrogen  in  the  grandest  opera- 
tions of  nature. 

Cyanogen  is  an  electrically  similar  compound  of 
carbon  with  the  addition  of  nitrogen.  Of  these 
elements  it  will  be  seen  that  nitrogen  and  hydrogen 
are  found  to  exist  also  in  the  gaseous  nebulae,  and 
with  the  probable  addition  there  of  oxygen;  but  in 
comets  the  quota  of  active  oxygen  must  be  sought 
for  in  the  correlated  planetary,  and  not  in  the 
cometic,  atmospheres,  as  is  the  case  with  the  sun. 
Of  the  presence  of  the  vapor  of  carbon  in  comets 
Professor  Ball  says,  "  This  is  a  very  singular  fact, 
when  it  is  remembered  that  carbon  is  one  of  the 
substances  essentially  associated  with  life  in  the 
forms  in  which  we  know  it."  Professor  Huggins 
says,  "  Since  that  time  the  light  from  some  twenty 


THE  PHENOMENA    OF  COMETS.  217 

comets  has  been  examined  by  different -observers. 
The  general  close  agreement  in  all  eases,  notwith- 
standing some  small  divergencies,  of  the  bright 
bands  in  the  cometary  light  with  those  seen  in  the 
spectrum  of  hydrocarbons  justifies  us  fully  in 
ascribing  the  original  light  of  these  comets  to 
matter  which  contains  carbon  in  combination  with 
hydrogen" 

We  may  learn  something  further  of  the  con- 
stitution of  comets,  perhaps,  by  considering  the 
chemical  reactions  which  their  spectra  seem  to  in- 
dicate. The  following  extract  is  from  a  recent 
article  on  the  manufacture  of  illuminating  gas: 
"Ammonia  contains  82.35  parts  of  nitrogen  and 
17.65  of  hydrogen.  It  is  not  produced  by  a  direct 
combination,  for  nitrogen  can  be  caught  and 
wedded  only  by  a  hot  and  skilful  wooing.  In  the 
gas  retort,  at  a  temperature  of  2200  degrees  and 
in  the  presence  of  lime,  soda,  or  potash,  it  will 
combine  with  carbon  and  form  cyanogen,  and  then 
further  combine  with  the  alkali  to  form  a  cyanide. 
There  is  steam  in  the  retort,  and,  as  nearly  as  the 
gas  chemists  can  make  out,  the  nitrogen  promptly 
divorces  itself,  gives  up  the  carbon  to  the  oxygen 
of  the  steam,  and,  taking  the  hydrogen  to  itself, 
becomes,  for  the  time  at  least,  a  fixed,  if  volatile, 
substance,  but  ever  ready  to  enter  into  new  alli- 
ances." It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  comets 
examined  by  Professors  Huggins  and  Draper  the 
spectroscope  revealed  both  cyanogen  and  the  double 
line  of  sodium.  The  function  of  the  sodium  is 
readily  understood,  as  by  its  presence  it  enables 

K  19 


218      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

the  nitrogen  in  the  cometic  atmosphere  to  com- 
bine with  a  part  of  the  carbon  of  the  gaseous 
hydrocarbons  which  constitute  this  atmosphere, 
and  thus  produce  the  cyanogen.  But  to  effect  this 
combination  requires  in  the  retort  a  temperature 
of  2200  degrees.  If  the  combining  temperature 
around  the  nucleus  of  a  comet  is  the  same,  it  will 
show  that  the  temperature  of  this  comet's  nucleus 
must  be  very  high,  and,  while  many  times  less 
than  that  of  the  sun's  photosphere,  it  still  clearly 
illustrates  the  powerful  character  of  the  impact  of 
the  planetary  electrical  currents  upon  the  comet, 
and  its  tremendous  repulsion  by  the  similarly 
electrified  solar  electrosphere.  The  second  one  of 
the  above  reactions,  that  from  cyanogen  to  am- 
monia, is  due  to  the  steam  or  aqueous  vapor  in  the 
retort.  But  in  the  case  of  the  comet  all  the  aque- 
ous vapor  and  its  constituent  oxygen  have  disap- 
peared by  electrolytic  decomposition  long  before 
the  combining  temperature  of  cyanogen  has  been 
reached;  so  that  the  sodium,  the  hydrocarbons, 
and  the  cyanogen  alone  appear,  and  the  oxygen 
compounds  are  missing.  But  on  the  reversal  of 
polarity  of  this  comet  by  contact  with  a  planetary 
electrosphere,  should  such  ever  occur,  and  its  con- 
sequent assumption  of  positive  electricity,  the 
oxygen  would  again  appear,  and,  if  the  tempera- 
ture had  not  yet  receded  below  that  of  the  reaction 
which  produces  ammoniacal  vapors,  we  might  ex- 
pect, should  a  fragment  of  this  comet  enter  our 
atmosphere  as  a  meteorite,  to  find  ammonia  as  well 
as  sodium  as  a  constituent  thereof;  otherwise  the 


THE  PHENOMENA    OF  COMETS.  219 

ammonia  would  be  replaced  by  carbonic  oxide 
and  carbonic  acid,  by  the  action  of  oxygen  upon 
the  hydrocarbons,  and  water  by  the  action  of  oxy- 
gen upon  the  hydrogen  of  the  same,  at  much  lower 
temperatures  than  would  suffice  for  the  generation 
of  ammonia.  The  cyanogen  would  then  perhaps 
remain  as  cyanide  of  sodium,  unless  decomposed 
by  contact  with  the  meteoric  metallic  iron  at  a 
high  temperature,  as  occurs  in  the  operation  known 
in  the  arts  as  "  case-hardening."  The  presence 
of  microscopic  diamonds  in  meteorites  may  be 
accounted  for  by  a  somewhat  similar  reducing 
reaction  under  heat  and  the  active  force  of  the 
planetary  and  solar  voltaic  arc. 

In  the  popular  view  comets  are  always  associated 
with  tails,  but,  in  fact,  comets  without  tails  are  far 
more  numerous  than  those  to  which  these  append- 
ages pertain ;  the  tails,  when  such  exist,  are  the 
direct  result  of  the  repulsive  energy  of  the  solar 
electrosphere,  and  are  only  manifested  when  their 
proximity  to  the  sun  has  aroused  sufficient  activity 
to  swiftly  sweep  backward  from  the  sun  with  in- 
conceivable velocity  the  gaseous  matter  concen- 
trated in  and  around  the  nucleus.  As  these  tails 
owe  their  formation  to  the  sun's  repulsive  energy, 
they  must  always  extend  radially  outward  from 
the  sun,  and  by  the  self-repulsive  energy  of  the 
diverse  constituents  of  the  tails  themselves  these 
will  be  broken  occasionally  into  two,  four,  or  six 
lateral  strands,  and  (possibly  by  the  attraction  of 
the  different  planetary  electrospheres)  curvatures 
may  be  apparent  along  the  sweep  of  the  comets' 


220     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

tails  corresponding,  in  effect,  with  perturbations 
produced  by  gravity  in  the  orbit  of  the  nucleus. 
Of  these  various  phenomena,  Professor  Proctor,  in 
his  article  on  comets,  says,  "  A  very  large  number 
of  comets  have  no  visible  tails.  When  first  seen 
in  the  telescope  a  comet  usually  presents  a  small, 
round  disk  of  hazy  light,  somewhat  brighter  near 
the  center.  As  the  comet  approaches  the  sun  the 
disk  lengthens,  and,  if  the  comet  is  to  be  a  tailed 
one,  traces  begin  to  be  observed  of  a  streakiness 
in  the  comet's  light.  Gradually  a  tail  is  formed, 
which  is  turned  always  from  the  sun.  The  tail 
grows  brighter  and  larger,  and  the  head  becomes 
developed  into  a  coma  surrounding  a  distinctly 
marked  nucleus.  Presently  the  comet  is  lost  to 
view  through  its  near  approach  to  the  sun;  but 
after  a  while  it  is  again  seen,  sometimes  wonder- 
fully changed  in  aspect  through  the  effects  of  solar 
heat.  Some  comets  are  brighter  and  more  striking 
after  passing  their  point  of  nearest  approach  to  the 
sun  than  before;  others  are  quite  shorn  of  their 
splendor  when  they  reappear."  This  change  of 
aspect  is  not  due  to  solar  heat,  but  to  the  energetic 
repulsion  of  the  solar  electrosphere.  The  force  of 
gravity  irresistibly  impels  the  comet  forward  to 
the  sun's  electrical  vortex,  and  the  change  of  aspect 
is  due  to  the  repulsion  of  its  entire  stock  of  free 
gaseous  matter  into  space  in  case  its  supply  is 
small,  or  to  its  increased  development  and  pouring 
forth  in  case  the  supply  is  large.  It  is  like  the 
volatilization  by  a  heated  atmosphere  of  ammo- 
niacal  gas,  for  instance,  absorbed  in  water.  The 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  COMETS.  221 

ebullition  is  vastly  increased  by  the  heat,  but  if 
the  entire  stock  of  ammonia  has  been  driven  off  in 
its  passage  through  the  heated  medium,  it  will 
emerge  with  the  residual  water  quiescent;  other- 
wise, in  a  state  of  increased  agitation. 

The  same  author,  in  "  Cometic  Mysteries,"  says, 
"  Repulsion  of  the  cometary  matter  could  only  take 
place  if  this  matter,  after  it  has  been  driven  off  from 
the  nucleus,  and  the  sun  have  both  high  electric  poten- 
tials of  the  same  kind."  His  further  guess,  however, 
that  it  is  analogous  to  the  aurora,  is  wide  of  the 
mark ;  it  is  due,  in  fact,  to  the  mutual  repulsion  of 
their  similar  negative  electrospheres,  the  cometic 
electrosphere,  however,  being  so  much  smaller 
than  that  of  the  sun  that  the  latter  shows  no  .ap- 
preciable disturbance,  as  is  the  case,  under  similar 
circumstances,  with  the  electrospheres  of  the  earth 
and  moon.  In  the  article  last  quoted  it  is  said, 
"  There  is  a  dark  space  immediately  behind  the 
nucleus, — that  is,  where  the  nucleus,  if  solid,  would 
throw  its  shadow  if  there  were  matter  to  receive 
the  light  all  round  so  that  the  shadow  could  be 
seen."  This  presents,  it  is  stated,  a  great  difficulty. 
The  author,  by  a  happy  guess, — almost  an  inspira- 
tion, in  fact,  of  which  this  splendid  writer  and  ob- 
server was  so  full, — suggests  in  a  foot-note  a  possi- 
ble explanation,  which,  while  not  in  itself  correct, 
suggests  an  analogous  process  very  like  what  we 
actually  see.  "  If  the  particles  forming  the  envel- 
opes are  minute  flat  bodies,  and  if  anything  in 
the  circumstances  under  which  these  particles  are 
driven  off  into  the  tail  causes  them  to*  always  so 

19* 


222     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

arrange  themselves  that  the  planes  in  which  they 
severally  lie  pass  through  the  axis  of  the  tail 
(which,  if  the  tail  is  an  electrical  phenomenon, 
might  very  well  happen),  then  we  should  find  the 
region  hehind  the  nucleus  very  dark  or  almost 
black,  for  the  particles  in  the  direction  of  the  line 
of  sight  there  would  be  turned  edgewise  towards 
us,  whereas  those  on  either  side  or  in  the  prolonga- 
tion of  the  envelopes  would  turn  their  faces  towards 
the  observer."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  envelope 
streaming  backward  from  the  nucleus  forms  a 
hollow  tube,  the  opposite  sides  of  which  exhibit 
the  same  mutual  repulsion  as  both  exhibit  towards 
the  sun;  hence  the  phenomenon  would  be  simi- 
lar to  that  exhibited  by  blowing  into  a  closed  bag 
of  porous  material  covered  with  wisps  of  cotton, 
for  example,  and  the  gases,  in  addition  to  their 
rush  backward  from  the  sun,  would  also  exhibit  a 
radial  rush  outward  from  the  longitudinal  axis 
of  the  tail.  This  is  what  we  actually  observe,  and 
sufficiently  accounts  for  the  phenomenon,  be  it  al- 
together or  only  partially  real,  and  not  merely,  as 
that  author  thinks  it  may  be,  apparent.  It  is  said, 
in  the  same  article,  that  "Bredichen  has  shown 
that  where  there  are  three  tails  to  a  comet  their 
forms  correspond  with  the  theory  that  the  envel- 
opes raised  from  the  head  are  principally  formed 
of  hydrogen,  carbon,  and  iron ;  but  this  .  .  .  seems 
open  at  present  to  considerable  doubt."  At  all 
events,  these  separate  tails  are  self-repulsive,  or 
they  would  be  merged  into  each  other  by  the  sun's 
repulsive  energy ;  in  fact,  they  occupy  the  resultant 


THE  PHENOMENA   OF  COMETS.  223 

of  the  direction  produced  by  the  line  of  the  sun's 
repulsion  and  those  of  their  own  mutually  repel- 
lent force, — that  is  to  say,  radial  or  divergent. 

It  must  not  he  supposed  that  these  tails  are 
of  insignificant  proportions.  "  When  we  see  the 
tail  of  a  comet  occupying  a  volume  thousands  of 
times  greater  than  that  of  the  sun  itself,  the  ques- 
tion naturally  suggests  itself,  i  How  does  it  happen 
that  so  vast  a  body  can  sweep  through  the  solar 
system  without  deranging  the  motion  of  every 
planet  V  Conceding  even  an  extreme  tenuity  to 
the  substance  composing  so  vast  a  volume,  one 
would  still  expect  its  mass  to  be  tremendous.  For 
instance,  if  we  supposed  the  whole  mass  of  the  tail 
of  the  comet  of  1843  to  consist  of  hydrogen  gas 
(the  lightest  substance  known  to  us),  yet  even  then 
the  mass  of  the  tail  would  have  largely  exceeded 
that  of  the  sun.  Every  planet  would  have  been 
dragged  from  its  orbit  by  so  vast  a  mass  passing  so 
near.  "We  know,  on  the  contrary,  that  no  such 
effects  were  produced.  The  length  of  our  year  did 
not  change  by  a  single  second.  .  .  .  Thus  we  are 
forced  to  admit  that  the  actual  substance  of  the 
comet  was  inconceivably  rare.  .  .  .  From  what  we 
have  already  seen,  it  will  be  manifest  that  the  forma- 
tion of  comets'  tails  is  a  process  of  a  very  marvel- 
lous nature,  apparently  involving  forces  other  than 
those  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The  tail, 
ninety  million  miles  in  length,  which  was  seen 
stretching  from  the  head  of  Newton's  comet  nearly 
along  the  path  which  the  retreating  comet  had  to 
traverse,  must,  it  would  seem,  have  been  formed 


224     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

by  some  force  far  more  active  than  the  force  of 
gravity.  The  distance  traversed  by  the  comet  in 
the  last /our  weeks  of  its  approach  to  the  sun  under 
gravity  was  no  greater  than  that  over  which  the 
matter  of  the  tail,  seen  after  the  comet  had  circled 
around  the  sun,  had  been  carried  in  a  few  hours. 
Yet  we  have  no  other  evidence  of  any  repulsive 
force  at  all  being  exerted  by  the  sun, — at  least  no 
evidence  which  can  be  regarded  as  demonstrative, 
— and  still  less  have  we  any  evidence  of  a  repul- 
sive force  exceeding  in  energy  the  sun's  attracting 
power."  (Proctor.) 


CHAPTER    IX. 

INTERPRETATION   OF   COMETIC    PHENOMENA. 

Now,  curiously  enough,  we  have  in  constant  use 
in  our  laboratories  a  little  instrument  called  the 
electroscope,  in  which  we  have  manifested  very 
clearly  a  repulsive  force  exceeding  in  energy  the 
earth's  attracting  power,  and  very  greatly  exceed- 


Electroscope,  show- 
ing repulsion  of  pith- 
ball  from  charged 
conductor. 


Bundle  of  straws  unelectrified,  and  after- 
wards suddenly  forced  asunder  by  elec- 
tricity. 


ing  it.  It  is  described  in  "  Electricity  in  the  Ser- 
vice of  Man"  as  follows  :  "  If  we  rub  a  large  glass 
rod  with  a  silk  pad,  we  observe  that  it  will  attract 
light  bodies,  then,  after  contact,  repel  them.  Dur- 
ing the  process  we  may  notice  a  peculiar  noise,  and 
if  the  experiment  be  carried  out  in  the  dark  we 
may  further  notice  sparks  passing  between  the  rod 
and  the  rubber,  and  also  that  the  rod  becomes  lumi- 
p  225 


226     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

nous.  If  we  suspend  a  pith-ball  by  means  of  a  silk 
thread,  on  bringing  the  rubbed  rod  near  the  pith-ball 
it  will  move  towards  the  rod,  touch  it,  and  then  be 
repelled.  If  the  glass  rod  be  again  brought  near  the 
pith-ball,  it  will  move  away  from  the  glass  rod,  and 
continue  to  be  repelled  until  it  has  been  touched 
by  some  other  body.  ...  In  order  to  ascertain 
whether  electricity  is  communicated  by  electrified 
bodies  to  non-electrified  bodies  when  brought  into 
contact,  let  us  suspend  two  pith-balls  from  the  same 
point  of  support  by  threads  of  uniform  silk,  and 
touch  the  pith-balls  with  the  rubbed  glass  rod. 
The  balls  fly  from  the  rod  and  also  from  one  an- 
other. On  bringing  near  them  a  third  pith-ball  or 
any  other  light  body,  we  find  that,  though  they 
repel  one  another,  they  are  attracted  by  the  light 
body,  showing  that  they  have  become  electrified 
by  contact  with  the  rubbed  glass  rod.  From  this 
we  conclude  that  an  unelectrified  body  may  be  elec- 
trified by  contact  with  an  electrified  body,  and  also 
that  there  is  repulsion  after  contact.  There  is 
mutual  repulsion  between  two  electrified  bodies,  but 
there  is  attraction  between  a  single  electrified  body 
and  one  that  is  unelectrified."  The  mutual  repul- 
sion of  these  pith-balls  is  the  exact  measure  of  the 
strength  of  electrification.  Hung  side  by  side  to  the 
knob  of  a  prime  conductor  of  an  electrical  machine, 
the  mutual  repulsion  of  the  similar  electrospheres 
of  these  pith-balls  drives  them  apart  against  the 
earth's  gravity  and  holds  them  extended,  if  the 
electrical  tension  be  sufficient,  to  their  widest  limit 
of  divergence.  It  is,  in  effect,  precisely  similar  to 


INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA.      227 

the  action  of  the  solar  and  cometic  electrospheres 
(see  illustration  in  a  previous  chapter,  page  124), 
each  being  similarly  electrified  and  communicat- 
ing with  the  other  across  a  space  which,  as  before 
stated,  is  freely  traversable  by  electric  currents 
without  appreciable  resistance.  That  such  electro- 
spheres  are  flaming  with  heat  does  not  interfere 
with  such  self-repellent  action ;  in  fact,  it  intensi- 
fies it.  In  Professor  Tyndall's  "  Lessons  in  Elec- 
tricity" we  read,  "Flames  and  glowing  embers  act 
like  points;  they  also  rapidly  discharge  electricity. 
The  electricity  escaping  from  a  point  or  flame  ren- 
ders the  air  self-repulsive.  The  consequence  is 
that  when  the  hand  is  placed  over  a  point  mounted 
on  the  prime  conductor  of  a  machine  in  good  ac- 
tion a  cold  blast  is  distinctly  felt.  .  .  .  Wilson 
moved  bodies  by  its  action,  Faraday  caused  it  to 
depress  the  surface  of  a  liquid,  Hamilton  employed 
the  reaction  of  the  electric  wind  to  make  pointed 
wires  rotate.  The  '  wind'  was  also  found  to  pro- 
mote evaporation." 

Let  us  now  apply  these  principles  to  the  tails  of 
comets.  If  we  conceive  the  sun  and  comet  to  be 
analogous  to  our  pith-balls,  one  enormously  larger 
than  the  other,  however,  and  hung  by  vaporous 
conducting  cords  from  the  combined  generating 
planetary  electrospheres,  both  sun  and  cometic 
nucleus  surrounded  each  by  a  vaporous  envelope, 
and  suspended  so  that  they  will  hang  from  parallel 
cords,  say  a  dozen  million  miles  apart,  and  with  no 
currents  of  electricity  as  yet  in  operation,  we  will 
find  that  the  sun  and  comet  will  be  simply  at- 


228     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

tracted  towards  each  other  by  the  force  of  gravity, 
so  that  their  suspending  cords  will  converge.  If 
the  planetary  electrical  machines  now  commence 
their  rotations,  and  currents  of  electricity  begin  to 
pass  in  quantity  and  intensity  like  those  which 
pass  between  the  earth  and  the  sun,  both  the  solar 
'and  cometic  pith-balls  will  become  similarly  elec- 
trified, and  their  gaseous  atmospheres,  instead  of 
drawing  towards  each  other,  will  become  luminous 
and  self-repulsive.  The  amosphere  which  sur- 
rounds the  cometic  pith-ball,  by  reason  of  its  great 
tenuity,  will  be  driven  backward  with  extreme  ve- 
locity, while  the  solar  pith-ball  electrosphere  will 
be  so  little  affected  that  its  repulsion  will  be  im- 
perceptible. All  the  gaseous  matter,  however,  of 
the  smaller  pith-ball  will  be  forced  off  in  a  direc- 
tion opposite  that  of  the  larger  one,  and  this  re- 
pulsive energy  will  even  carry  the  pith-balls  apart, 
causing  the  suspending  cords  to  widely  diverge 
from  each  other,  while  the  force  of  gravity  of  the 
earth  tends  to  bring  them  nearer  together.  If  the 
gravity  of  the  larger  pith-ball,  however,  was  equal, 
relatively,  to  that  of  the  sun,  the  result  would 
be  that  the  solid  pith-balls  would  be  mutually 
attracted  by  gravitation  and  only  the  electrified 
atmospheres,  would  be  mutually  repelled.  This 
experiment  would  present  phenomena  similar  to 
those  we  are  now  considering.  (See  illustration, 
page  211.) 

In  describing  Newton's  comet,  with  a  tail  ninety 
million  miles  long  projected  backward  both  from 
the  sun  and  the  comet,  when  it  disappeared  in  the 


INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA.      229 

light  of  the  sun,  and  exhibiting  a  similar  tail,  also 
ninety  million  miles  long,  when,  less  than  four 
days  afterwards,  it  reappeared  from  behind  the 
sun,  but  with  the  tail  now  directed  forward  from 
the  comet,  but  in  both  cases  extended  radially  out- 
ward from  the  sun,  it  is  obvious  that  this  whole 
tail  must  have  made  a  sweeping  change  of  direc- 
tion of  nearly  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees 
upon  the  nucleus  as  its  center.  Professor  Proctor 
says,  "  As  Sir  John  Herschel  remarks,  we  cannot 
look  on  the  tail  of  a  comet  as  something  whirled 
round  like  a  stick  as  the  comet  circles  around  its 
perihelion  sweep.  The  tail  with  which  the  comet 
reappeared  must  have  been  an  entirely  new  forma- 
tion." It  is  true  that  a  comet's  tail  cannot  be  con- 
ceived of  as  being  whirled  round  like  a  stick,  but 
we  can  very  readily  conceive  of  it  as  something 
like  a  flame  composed  of  incandescent  gases,  and 
it  may  very  easily  be  blown  round  a  stick ;  and  this 
is  precisely  what  must  happen  in  the  case  of  a 
comet.  Construct,  for  experiment,  a  little  appa- 
ratus consisting  of  a  blow-pipe  adapted  to  deliver 
a  current  of  air  between  two  horizontal  metal 
disks,  say  an  eighth  of  an  inch  apart,  one  perfo- 
rated at  the  center  to  admit  the  nozzle  of  the  blow- 
pipe. By  directing  a  constant  current  of  air 
through  the  latter,  it  will  be  deflected  so  as  to 
blow  radially  outward  in  all  directions  and  in  the 
same  plane.  Now  take  a  stick  with  a  flame  on 
the  end  of  it,  or  a  lighted  candle,  and  with  it  ap- 
proach this  center  of  repellent  energy  in  the  plane 
of  the  space  between  the  disks  and  along  an  ellipse 

20 


230     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

representing  the  orbit  of  a  comet.  As  the  flame 
approaches  the  improvised  solar  center  it  will  be 
driven  backward  from  the  wick  of  the  candle 
almost  along  the  line  of  its  approach,  and  as  it 


Mechanical  device  illustrating  repulsion  by  the  solar  electrosphere  of  a 
comet's  tail. 

passes  around  the  center  it  will  be  constantly  blown 
outward  in  a  radial  direction  until,  when  it  recedes 
after  perihelion,  the  flame  will  be  seen  pointed 
almost  directly  ahead.  At  all  times  the  direc- 
tion of  the  flame  will  lie  along  the  radial  lines  pro- 
longed outward  from  the  center  through  the  wick 
of  the  candle,  and  it  will  not  be  a  new  flame  gener- 
ated at  every  change  of  its  direction,  but  the  same 
flame  constantly  forced  outward  by  the  repulsive 
force  of  the  central  atmosphere  in  this  case  or  the 
solar  electrosphere  in  the  case  of  the  sun.  This  ex- 
periment is  an  accurate  and  conclusive  exhibit  of 


INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA.      231 

the  phenomena  of  solar  repulsion  in  its  action  upon 
the  tail  of  a  comet.  It  is  analogous  in  principle  to 
the  repulsion  of  the  pith-balls  and  the  electric 
wind  and  (in  application)  to  the  phenomena  pre- 
sented by  comets  in  their  movements  to,  around, 
and  from  the  sun.  This  repulsion  is  not  operative 
in  effect  against  the  wick  of  the  candle, — that  is 
to  say,  it  is  not  the  repulsion  of  the  nucleus  which 
determines  the  direction  of  the  tail,  but  the  re- 
pulsion by  direct  outblow  of  the  sun,  so  to  speak, 
upon  the  incandescent  gases  of  the  tail  itself.  This 
fact  clearly  demonstrates  that  the  repulsion  of  like 
electrospheres  is  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon,  and, 
when  once  understood,  the  process  is  quite  as  sim- 
ple as  that  of  the  original  formation  of  the  tail 
itself,  which  no  one  disputes. 

There  is  to  be  further  considered  the  theoretical 
resistance  of  space  to  the  projection  and  deflection 
of  such  enormous  volumes  of  attenuated  matter  as 
appear  in  comets'  tails.  While  it  may  not  be  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  offer  an  explanation  of  this 
apparent  difficulty,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  such 
projection  and  deflection  do  actually  occur,  still, 
the  well-known  laws  of  the  diffusion  of  gases,  in 
accordance  with  which  any  gaseous  matter  will 
traverse  any  other  gaseous  matter  with  the  same 
velocity  as,  and  with  no  more  resistance  than,  in  a 
vacuum,  will  show  that  this  difficulty  has  been 
much  overrated,  while  for  the  twin  difficulty,  how 
to  account  for  the  persistence  of  luminosity  at  such 
vast  distances  from  its  source,  we  may  quote  from 
Professor  Proctor,  "  Cometic  Mysteries,"  who,  in 


232     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

turn,  quotes  as  follows :  "  Comets  travel  in  what 
must  be  regarded  as  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
vacuum.  From  Dr.  Crookes'  experiments  on  very 
high  vacua  we  may  infer  that  there  is  very  little 
loss  of  heat,  except  by  radiation."  By  "intents 
and  purposes"  we  understand,  of  course,  as  a  cause 
of  resistance,  and  certainly  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  the  attenuated  vapors  of  space  are 
sufficient  in  density  to  cause  any  rapid  diffusion 
of  heat  by  convection,  as  contrasted  with  that  of 
radiation. 

We  have  seen  that  comets  of  short  period  some- 
times disappear,  and  that  their  disappearance  is 
frequently  followed  by  the  appearance  of  trains  of 
meteors.  In  other  words,  they  have  apparently 
lost  their  cometic  properties  and  become  perma- 
nent adjuncts  to  our  solar  system.  A  curious  con- 
firmation of  this  fact  is  to  be  found  in  the  character 
of  the  occluded  gases  which  are  contained  in  such 
meteorites  as  sometimes  fall  upon  the  earth's  sur- 
face. Of  this  Professor  Proctor  says,  "  We  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  nucleus  of  a  comet  con- 
sists of  an  aggregation  of  stones  similar  to  meteor- 
ites." Speaking  of  the  condition  in  which  meteor- 
ites reach  the  earth,  he  says,  "  They  are  known  to 
contain  as  much  as  six  times  their  own  volume  of 
gases  (taken  at  atmospheric  pressure).  In  one  of 
these  meteorites  recently  examined  by  Dr.  Flight, 
the  following  percentages  of  various  gases  were 
noted  :  Of  carbonic  oxide,  31.88 ;  of  carbonic  acid 
gas,  0.12;  of  hydrogen,  45.79  ;  of  olefiant  gas,  4.55; 
and  of  nitrogen,  17.66."  The  presence  of  olefiant 


INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA.      233 

gas  at  once  suggests  the  hydrocarbons  of  the  com- 
etic  nucleus.  The  presence  of  this  gas  cannot  be 
accounted  for  by  the  passage  of  the  meteorite 
through  our  atmosphere,  nor  can  that  of  hydrogen, 
and  these  are  two  characteristic  gases,  together 
with  the  vapor  of  carbon,  constantly  found  to 
exist  in  comets. 

As  before  explained,  the  advent  of  a  comet  into 
our  solar  system  is  that  of  a  stranger,  with  elec- 
tric polarity  the  opposite  of  that  of  the  planetary 
electrospheres  and  identical  with  that  of  the  sun. 
Under  the  combined  influence  of  the  solar  gravity 
and  perturbation  by  the  gravity  of  the  planets 
these  foreign  bodies  tend  to  shorten  their  periods, 
and  finally  fall  into  the  ordinary  array  of  the  bodies 
which  compose  our  own  solar  system.  But  when 
this  occurs  they  will,  in  turn,  become  contributors 
to,  instead  of  antagonists  of,  the  energy  of  the  sun ; 
in  other  words,  they  must  then  conform  electri- 
cally to  the  condition  of  the  family  into  which 
they  have  married, — that  is  to  say,  the  planets, — 
and  a  reversal  of  their  electrical  polarity  will  take 
place.  This  reversal  of  polarity  is  no  novelty  in 
the  operation  of  electrical  apparatus.  In  "Elec- 
tricity in  the  Service  of  Man"  we  read  as  follows 
of  the  Voss  induction  machine  :  "  This  machine  is 
exceedingly  powerful  in  favorable  weather,  but  has 
an  important  defect  in  a  tendency  to  self-reversal, 
which  is  apt  to  occur  at  a  stoppage.  This  defect  can 
be  produced  in  a  Yoss  machine,  when  desired,  by 
holding  a  metal  point  to  the  positive  brush  K.  The 
two  derived  inductive  circuits  are  beautifully  mani- 

20* 


234     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

fested  when  this  machine  is  worked  in  the  dark. 
A  luminous  stream  is  seen  pouring  towards  the 
collecting  comb  L  on  whichever  side  of  the  ma- 
chine the  comb  is  positive."  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  simple  contact  of  a  neutral  (or  negatively  op- 
posite) body  will  reverse  the  electrical  polarity  of 
this  machine,  or  even  the  interruption  of  its  motion 
will  do  so  at  times.  Possibly  a  similar  reversal  may 
be  produced  in  a  comet  by  the  contact  in  whole 
or  in  part  of  its  nucleus  with  a  planetary  electro- 
sphere,  since  the  action  of  gravity  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  that  of  the  attraction  or  repulsion  of 
the  electrospheres  of  both  planetary  and  cometic 
bodies.  Such  reversal  of  polarity  in  a  comet  would 
at  once  extinguish  its  luminosity,  and  the  genera- 
tion of  oxygen  would  at  once  replace  the  prior 
generation  of  hydrogen,  and  herein  we  may  find 
explained  the  presence  of  carbonic  oxide  in  large 
volume  and  carbonic  acid  in  small  volume  in  the 
meteorite  above  referred  to,  and  of  which  gases 
Professor  Proctor  says,  "  It  is  quite  certain  these 
gases  were  not  taken  up  by  the  meteorolite  during 
its  flight  through  the  air."  These  aggregations 
of  discrete  meteoric  bodies,  loosely  adherent  by 
mutual  gravity  alone,  would  be  gradually  torn 
apart  by  planetary  interference  and  dragged  into 
streams  of  small  bodies,  thenceforth  traversing 
space  in  elliptical  orbits  around  the  sun,  just  as  do 
the  planets  and  planetoids.  Cyanogen,  also,  the 
deadly  gas  so  frequently  found  to  exist  in  enormous 
quantities  in  the  nuclei  of  comets,  would  at  once 
disappear,  by  double  conversion  into  carbonic  acid, 


INTERPRETATION  OF  COMETIC  PHENOMENA.      235 

or  oxide,  and  ammonia,  or  nitrogen,  so  that  this 
danger,  as  the  result  of  a  comet's  possible  approach 
to  the  earth's  atmosphere,  may  be  dismissed  from 
apprehension. 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  the  enormous  difficulties 
in  the  phenomena  of  comets  find  an  explanation  in 
the  operation  of  the  same  universal  laws  which  we 
have  endeavored  to  apply  to  the  other  sidereal 
bodies.  In  conclusion,  we  may  cite  the  following 
from  Dr.  Huggins :  "  Broadly,  the  different  appli- 
cations of  principles  of  electricity  which  have  been 
suggested  group  themselves  about  the  common 
idea  that  great  electrical  disturbances  are  set  up 
by  the  sun's  action  in  connection  with  the  vapori- 
zation of  some  of  the  matter  of  the  nucleus,  and 
that  the  tail  is  probably  matter  carried  away,  possi- 
bly in  connection  with  electric  discharges,  under 
an  electrical  influence  of  repulsion  exerted  by  the 
sun.  This  view  necessitates  the  supposition  that 
the  sun  is  strongly  electrified,  either  negatively  or 
positively,  and,  further,  that  in  the  processes  taking 
place  in  the  comet,  either  of  vaporization  or  of 
some  other  kind,  the  matter  thrown  out  by  the 
nucleus  has  become  strongly  electrified  in  the  same 
way  as  the  sun, — that  is,  negatively  if  the  sun's 
electricity  is  negative,  or  positively  if  the  sun's  is 
positive.  The  enormous  disturbances  which  the 
spectroscope  shows  to  be  always  at  work  in  the 
sun  must  be  accompanied  by  electrical  changes  of 
equal  magnitude,  but  we  know  nothing  as  to  how 
far  these  are  all,  or  the  great  majority  of  them,  in 
one  direction,  so  as  to  cause  the  sun  to  maintain 


236     SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

permanently  a  high  electrical  state,  whether  posi- 
tive or  negative."  The  ahove  speculations  will 
have  thus  become  demonstrated  facts  (though  not 
in  the  mode  suggested  by  the  above  writer)  as 
soon  as  we  clearly  understand  that,  instead  of  the 
sun's  "  enormous  disturbances"  producing  "  elec- 
trical changes  of  equal  magnitude,"  it  is  the  elec- 
trical changes  of  equal  magnitude  which  them- 
selves cause  the  sun's  disturbances,  and  that  the 
sun's  negative  electrical  polarity  is  permanently 
fixed  by  the  opposite  and  positive  polarity  of  the 
planetary  electrospheres,  and  that  all  these  various 
phenomena  are  but  the  normal  expression  of  a 
single  universal  law,  and  are  all  due  to  the  constant 
interaction  of  planetary,  solar,  and  cometic  electro- 
spheres,  in  accordance  with  the  well-established 
principles  of  electrical  science.  If,  however,  we 
consider,  as  is  generally  believed  to  be  the  case, 
the  sun  itself  to  be  the  sole  prime  source  of  its 
visible  energy,  nothing  but  difficulty  and  vague 
speculation  can  be  looked  for  on  every  hand ;  but 
by  relegating  the  solar  orb  to  its  proper  place,  and 
taking  as  the  starting-point  the  true  source  of  all 
energy, — to  wit,  the  hidden  forces  embodied  in  the 
vapors  or  gases  of  interstellar  space, — the  whole 
process  and  mode  of  action  will  logically  follow, 
and  obscurity  and  difficulty  together  disappear. 
This  principle,  properly  understood,  is  a  master- 
key  which  will  unlock  every  problem  and  inter- 
pret every  enigma  which  the  realms  of  interstellar 
space  can  present. 


CHAPTER    X. 


THE    RESOLVABLE    NEBULA,    STAR-CLUSTERS    AND 
GALAXIES. 

WHEN  we  come  to  consider  the  nebulae,  and  en- 
deavor to  learn  what  part  electricity  has  to  play  in 
the  phenomena  presented  hy  these  singular  objects, 
we  must  recollect,  in  order  to  give  them  their  due 
importance,  that  they  are  neither  few  in  number 
nor  uniform  in  constitution.  Of  the  nebulae,  Pro- 
fessor Proctor  ("  Star-Clouds  and  Star-Mist")  says, 
"  When  the  depths  of  the  heavens  are  explored 
with  a  powerful  telescope  a  number  of  strange 
cloud-like  objects  are  brought  into  view.  It  is 
startling  to  consider  that  if  the  eye  of  man  sud- 
denly acquired  the  light-gathering  power  of  a  large 
telescope,  and  if  at  the  same  time  all  the  single  stars 
disappeared,  we  should  see  on  the  celestial  vault  a 
display  of  the  mysterious  objects  called  nebulae  or 
star-clouds  exceeding  in  number  all  the  stars  which 
can  now  be  seen  on  the  darkest  night  in  winter. 
The  whole  sky  would  seem  mottled  with  these  sin- 
gular objects."  As  telescopes,  with  the  advances 
of  constructive  art,  increased  in  power,  these  lumi- 
nous clouds  became  more  and  more  clearly  defined, 
and  many  of  them  became  resolved  into  clusters 
of  stars,  galaxies  of  suns  like  the  Milky  Way, 
of  which  latter  our  solar  system  is  a  constituent 
part,  but  more  distant  from  us  than  the  separately 

237 


238     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

visible  stars  of  that  galaxy,  and  each  separated  from 
the  relatively  adjacent  clusters  by  intervals  of  space 
comparable  only  with  those  which  separate  them 
from  our  own  system.  Of  these  glorious  star- 
clusters,  says  Flammarion,  in  "  The  "Wonders  of  the 
Heavens,"  "  In  the  bosom  of  infinite  space,  the  un- 
fathomable depth  of  which  we  have  tried  to  compre- 
hend, float  rich  clusters  of  stars,  each  separated  by 
immense  intervals.  We  shall  soon  show  that  all 
the  stars  are  suns  like  ours,  shining  with  their  own 
light,  and  foci  of  as  many  systems  of  worlds.  Now, 
the  stars  are  not  scattered  in  all  parts  of  space  at 
hazard ;  they  are  grouped  as  the  members  of  many 
families.  If  we  compared  the  ocean  of  the  heavens 
with  the  ocean  of  the  earth,  we  should  say  that  the 
isles  which  sprinkle  this  ocean  do  not  rise  sepa- 
rately in  all  parts  of  the  sea,  but  that  they  are  united 
here  and  there  in  archipelagoes  more  or  less  rich. 
.  .  .  They  are  all  collected  in  tribes,  most  of  which 
count  their  members  by  millions."  Says  Profes- 
sor Mchol,  "  System  on  system  of  majesty  un- 
speakable float  through  the  fathomless  ocean  of 
space.  Our  galaxy,  with  splendors  that  seem  illim- 
itable, is  only  a  unit  among  unnumbered  throngs; 
we  can  think  of  it,  in  comparison  with  creation, 
but  as  we  were  wont  to  think  of  one  of  its  own 
stars."  Of  these  glorious  star-clusters  the  same 
writer  says,  "  That  no  one  has  ever  seen  them  in  a 
telescope  of  adequate  power  without  uttering  a 
shout  of  wonder."  These  mist-like  star-clouds 
were  successively  resolved,  nebula  by  nebula,  until 
science  settled  into  the  belief  that  with  telescopes 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULA.  239 

of  adequate  power  all  nebulae  might  be  so  resolved, 
and  the  capacity  of  telescopes  to  thus  resolve  neb- 
ulae became  a  test  of  their  power.  But  spectrum 
analysis  finally  entered  the  lists  with  new  methods 
of  investigation,  and  the  comparatively  tiny  spec- 
troscope at  a  single  leap  passed  far  beyond  the 
utmost  limits  of  the  highest  telescopic  vision,  and 
at  one  blow  struck  the  whole  category  of  nebulae 
into  two  widely  different  classes, — those  composed 
of  discrete  stars  grouped  like  the  suns  of  our  own 
Milky  Way,  and  exhibiting  the  characteristic  spec- 
tra of  such  bodies,  and  those  composed  of  diffused 
gaseous  matter  not  yet  condensed  into  suns,  and 
showing  the  disconnected  spectral  lines  of  simple 
elemental  gases.  The  line  of  division  was  clear, 
direct,  positive,  and  beyond  all  dispute.  Yet  be- 
yond these  two  classes  further  research  has  dis- 
closed certain  vast  nebulae  in  which  some  portions 
exhibit  true  solar  spectra  more  or  less  modified 
and  others  true  gaseous  spectra,  each  apparently 
merging  into  the  other  by  gradations  so  faint  and 
delicate  that  the  inference  is  irresistible  that  in 
these  nebulae  we  see  the  processes  of  galactic  and 
solar  creation  at  various  stages  of  their  develop- 
ment. 

Of  these  nebulae,  Professor  Ball  says,  "  In  one 
of  his  most  remarkable  papers,  Sir  "W.  Herschel 
presents  us  with  a  summary  of  his  observations  on 
the  nebulae,  arranged  in  such  a  manner  as  to  sug- 
gest his  theory  of  the  gradual  transmutation  of 
nebulae  into  stars.  He  first  shows  us  that  there 
are  regions  in  the  heavens  where  a  faint  diffused 


240     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

nebulosity  is  all  that  can  be  detected  by  the  tele- 
scope. There  are  other  nebulae  in  which  a  nucleus 
can  be  just  discerned,  others  again  in  which  the 
nucleus  is  easily  seen,  and  still  others  where  the 
nucleus  is  a  bright  star-like  point.  The  transition 
from  an  object  of  this  kind  to  a  nebulous  star  is 
very  natural,  while  the  nebulous  stars  pass  into 
the  ordinary  stars  by  a  few  graduated  stages.  It 
is  thus  possible  to  enumerate  a  series  of  objects, 
beginning  at  one  end  with  the  most  diffused  nebu- 
losity and  ending  at  the  other  with  an  ordinary 
fixed  star  or  group  of  stars.  Each  object  in  the 
series  differs  but  slightly  from  the  object  just  be- 
fore it  and  just  after  it."  And  of  these  composite 
nebulae,  he  adds,  "  The  great  nebula  in  Orion  is 
known  to  be  the  most  glorious  body  of  its  class 
that  the  heavens  display.  Seen  through  a  power- 
ful telescope,  .  .  .  the  appearance  of  this  grand 
'  light  stain'  is  of  indescribable  glory.  It  is  a  vast 
volume  of  bluish  gaseous  material  with  hues  of 
infinite  softness  and  delicacy.  Here  it  presents 
luminous  tracts  which  glow  with  an  exquisite  blue 
light ;  there  it  graduates  off  until  it  is  impossible 
to  say  where  the  nebula  ceases  and  the  black  sky 
begins." 

With  reference  to  these  distant  galaxies  of  ap- 
parently complete  solar  systems  like  our  own,  the 
same  principles  must  regulate  the  conversion  of 
this  energy  of  planetary  electricity  into  the  energy 
of  solar  light  and  heat  as  we  see  manifested  in  our 
own  sun.  The  light  of  the  individual  stars  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  this ;  but  the  question  may  be 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULAE.  241 

asked,  Is  the  electrical  interaction  between  separate 
galaxies  and  between  different  solar  systems  in  the 
same  galaxy  universal,  or  are  these  operations 
merely  local  ?  In  other  words,  Is  the  source  and 
the  mode  of  solar  energy  in  accordance  with  a 
single  universal  law  of  and  between  all  created 
universes,  or  is  it  limited  in  effective  energy  to  the 
members  of  each  individual  solar  system  alone  ? 
The  answer  is,  that  it  is  not  less  universal  than  the 
law  of  gravitation  and  no  more  so.  There  is  a 
prevalent  popular  fallacy  that  the  force  of  gravity 
is  such  that  the  movements,  not  only  of  solar  sys- 
tems, but  of  whole  galaxies,  and  of  all  the  illimit- 
able systems  of  galaxies,  are  under  its  effective 
control,  and  that  the  whole  universe  of  boundless 
space  acknowledges  its  overwhelming  sway.  But 
nothing  can  be  further  from  the  truth.  We  know, 
of  course,  that  the  law  is  universal,  as  expressed  in 
the  statement  of  its  terms  by  Newton,  but  the 
mere  statement  of  the  law  itself,  as  applied  to  in- 
terstellar distances,  refutes  the  idea  that  solar  sys- 
tems and  galaxies  can  rotate  around  any  common 
center  by  virtue  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation  as 
a  controlling  force.  The  universality  of  the  law 
itself  has  even  been  doubted.  Professor  Ball  says, 
"  In  the  first  book  about  astronomy  which  I  read  in 
my  boyhood  there  was  a  glowing  description.  .  .  . 
I  allude  to  the  discovery,  or  the  alleged  discovery, 
of  a  certain  i  central  sun'  about  which  it  was 
believed  or  stated  that  all  the  bodies  in  the  uni- 
verse revolved.  ...  It  was  too  good  to  be  true. 
No  one  ever  hears  anything  about  the  central  sun 

L          q  21 


242     SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

hypothesis  nowadays.  ...  It  must  be,  then,  ad- 
mitted that  when  the  law  of  gravitation  is  spoken 
of  as  being  universal,  we  are  using  language  infi- 
nitely more  general  than  the  facts  absolutely  war- 
rant. At  the  present  moment  we  only  know  that 
gravitation  exists  to  a  very  small  extent  in  a  certain 
indefinite  small  portion  of  space.  Our  knowledge 
would  have  to  be  enormously  increased  before 
we  could  assert  that  gravitation  was  in  operation 
throughout  this  very  limited  region;  and  even 
when  we  have  proved  this,  we  should  only  have 
made  an  infinitesimal  advance  to  a  proof  that 
gravitation  is  absolutely  universal." 

Anyone  who  chooses  may  prove  for  himself  that 
the  force  exercised  by  gravitation  between  the 
multitudinous  suns  of  our  own  galaxy,  the  Milky 
Way,  and  our  earth  must  be  quite  infinitesimal, 
and  totally  unable  to  control  the  motions  of  our 
own  solar  system  in  a  definite  orbit  through  uni- 
versal space.  We  know  that  the  law  which  regu- 
lates the  intensity  of  light  at  various  distances  is 
the  same  as  the  law  of  gravity, — that  is  to  say,  the 
proportion  is  directly  as  the  mass  and  inversely  as 
the  square  of  the  distance.  We  know  also  that  the 
stars  which  compose  the  Milky  Way  are  similarly 
constituted,  generally  considered,  to  our  own  sun, 
and  that  under  similar  circumstances  the  emission 
of  light,  roughly  speaking,  will  vary  according  to 
the  magnitude  of  these  distant  suns.  Now,  if  any 
one  will  stand,  at  the  darkest  hour  of  the  night, 
when  the  moon  is  absent  and  the  sky  perfectly 
cloudless,  when  the 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULJE.  243 

"  Stars  that  oversprinkle  all  the  heavens  seem  to  twinkle 
With  a  crystalline  delight," 

and  sweep  with  his  gaze  all  the  concave  hemisphere 
of  the  sky,  and  then  compare  the  light  which  is 
radiated  around  him  with  the  gorgeous  effulgence 
of  the  noonday  summer  sun,  he  can  pretty  closely 
compare  the  relative  attraction  of  gravity  which  all 
those  distant  suns  together  can  exercise  upon  our 
earth  with  that  of  our  own  sun.  Under  control  of 
the  latter,  the  earth  sweeps  around  in  her  orbit  at 
the  rate  of  about  twenty  miles  per  second;  all 
these  suns  could  not  give  our  solar  system  even  a 
minute  fraction  of  that.  Of  this  starlight  Pro- 
fessor Ball  says,  "  The  sun  certainly  must  receive 
some  heat  by  the  radiation  from  the  stars ;  but  this 
is  quite  infinitesimal  in  comparison  with  his  own 
stupendous  radiation."  Any  such  attraction,  of 
course,  could  not  control  the  motions  of  our  solar 
system,  and  much  less  that  of  many  of  the  others. 

"  The  night  has  a  thousand  eyes,  and  the  day  but  one, 
But  the  light  of  the  whole  world  dies  when  the  day  is  done. ' ' 

We  can  also  demonstrate  the  fact  mathemati- 
cally by  an  exceedingly  rough  calculation,  which, 
however,  will  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  Of 
the  Milky  Way,  which  comprises  only  the  stars  of 
our  own  sidereal  system,  Professor  Ball  says,  "  One 
hundred  million  stars  are  presumed  to  be  disposed 
in  a  flat  circular  layer  of  such  dimensions  that  a 
ray  of  light  would  require  thirty  thousand  years  to 
traverse  one  diameter."  (The  most  recent  estimates 


244     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

make  the  number  of  the  stars  which  compose  the 
Milky  Way  several  times  one  hundred  million, 
occupying  a  correspondingly  greater  amplitude  of 
space.  The  number  in  any  case  is  sufficiently 
stupendous.)  Our  solar  system  is  located  in  space 
at  the  apex  of  a  vast  transverse  cleft,  and  nearly 
at  the  center  of  this  disk.  Let  us  leave  out  of 
consideration  the  lower  half  of  the  Milky  Way, 
as  we  look  upward  on  a  starlit  night,  and  conceive 
this  galaxy  to  extend  only  across  the  midnight  sky 
above  us  like  an  archway,  with  fifty  million  suns, 
visible  and  invisible,  exposed  in  the  field  of  our 
vision.  The  nearest  of  all  the  fixed  stars  to  us  is  that 
known  as  Alpha  Centauri, — not  visible,  however, 
in  our  northern  skies.  This  star  is  about  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  thousand  times  as  far  from  our  sun 
as  is  the  earth.  If  of  the  same  mass  as  our  sun,  it 
must  exert  upon  us  an  attractive  force  of  gravity 
one  fifty-three-billionth  that  of  our  own  sun.  Next 
in  distance  is  the  star  No.  61  of  the  constellation 
Cygnus.  This  may  be  three  times  as  distant,  and 
is  certainly  not  less  than  twice.  The  light  of  the 
former  will  reach  the  earth  in  three  and  one-quarter 
years ;  that  of  the  latter  in  not  less  than  six  and 
one-half  years,  perhaps  much  more.  These  are 
our  nearest  stellar  neighbors.  While  the  former 
will  attract  us  with  only  one  fifty-three-thousand- 
milliorith  that  of  the  sun,  the  latter  will  attract  us 
with  less  than  one  two-hundred-thousand-millionth 
that  of  our  sun.  Conceive,  then,  a  square  pyramid 
extending  radially  upward  for  three  thousand 
times  the  mean  of  these  distances  to  the  upper 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULAE.  245 

probable  limits  of  the  Milky  "Way,  a  light-distance 
of  fifteen  thousand  years,  and  that  this  pyramid 
expands  according  to  the  squares  of  its  distances, 
so  that  it  will  contain  within  it,  equally  distributed, 
all  the  stars  (fifty  million)  of  the  upper  half  of 
the  disk  of  the  Milky  Way ;  the  sum  total  of  all 
these  attractions  could  not  reach  one  twenty- 
millionth  part  of  that  of  our  sun  upon  the  earth. 
If  we  continue  to  pile  galaxies,  in  the  same  per- 
petual recession,  behind  each  other  to  all  infinity, 
we  still  could  not  engender  sufficient  attractive 
force  to  control  the  observed  movements  of  the 
multitudinous  stars  of  space.  The  very  statement 
of  the  law  of  gravitation  itself  disproves  it ;  for  if 
we  multiply  orbs  and  systems  according  to  any 
principle  of  aggregation  that  we  know  of  in  the 
way  of  distribution  of  such  systems,  or  anything 
possible,  with  due  regard  to  their  own  mutually 
interacting  movements  in  space,  we  could  never 
reach  the  inside  limits  of  such  a  sphere  of  control, 
because  the  piling  up  of  orb  behind  orb  adds  but 
an  infinitesimal  fraction  to  the  force  of  gravity,  for 
as  the  orbs  themselves  multiply  in  distance  pro- 
gressively by  hundreds,  their  relative  attractions 
inversely  diminish  by  ten  thousands.  No  possi- 
ble increase  of  suns  directly  in  mass  could  com- 
pensate for  such  an  inverse  ratio  of  squares,  even 
if  all  intergalactic  space  were  peopled  with  suns, 
instead  of  being,  in  fact,  like  a  vast  ocean,  with  a 
few  small  clusters  of  islands  scattered  here  and 
there  throughout  its  illimitable  extent. 

Of  these  vast  realms  of  space,  Professor  Ball 
21* 


246      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

asks,  "  Is  our  sidereal  system  to  be  regarded  as  an 
oceanic  island  in  space,  or  is  it  in  such  connection 
with  the  systems  in  other  parts  of  space  as  might 
lead  us  to  infer  that  the  various  systems  had  a 
common  character  ?  The  evidence  seems  to  show- 
that  the  stars  in  our  system  are  probably  not  per- 
manently associated  together,  but  that  in  the  course 
of  time  some  stars  enter  our  system  and  other  stars 
leave  it,  in  such  manner  as  to  suggest  that  the 
bodies  visible  to  us  are  fairly  typical  of  the  general 
contents  of  the  universe.  The  strongest  evidence 
that  can  be  presented  on  this  subject  is  met  with 
in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  one  particular 
star.  The  star  in  question  is  known  as  No.  1830 
of  Groombridge's  catalogue.  It  is  a  small  star,  not 
to  be  seen  without  the  aid  of  a  telescope.  .  .  .  We 
shall  probably  be  quite  correct  in  assuming  that  the 
distance  is  not  less  than  two  hundred  billions  of 
miles.  .  .  .  The  velocity  is  no  less  than  two  hun- 
dred miles  per  second.  .  .  .  The  star  sweeps  along 
through  our  system  with  this  stupendous  velocity. 
.  .  .  The  velocity  being  over  twenty-five  miles  a 
second,  the  attraction  can  never  overcome  the  ve- 
locity, so  that  the  star  seems  destined  to  escape.'* 
Of  the  star  Alcyone  he  says,  "  Doubtless  that  star 
is  thousands  of  billions  of  miles  from  the  earth; 
doubtless  the  light  from  it  requires  thousands  of 
years — and  some  astronomers  have  said  millions 
of  years — to  span  the  abyss  which  intervenes  be- 
tween our  globe  and  those  distant  regions."  And 
yet  these  stars,  these  galaxies,  and  even  all  the 
nebulae  we  see  or  ever  shall  see,  are  merely  in  the 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULAE.  247 

vestibule  of  space ;  we  have  scarcely  even  yet  lifted 
the  outer  curtain  at  the  entrance  of  those  vast 
realms.  That  the  popular,  but  pseudo-scientific, 
idea  of  a  series  of  ever-widening  concentric  orbits, 
increasing  at  every  new  expansion  by  an  incon- 
ceivable ratio,  is  incredible  we  can  well  under- 
stand, and  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  such  a 
wild  hypothesis  finds  no  warrant  in  the  dicta  or 
the  demonstrations  of  science.  And  it  is  in  the 
failure  of  gravity  to  control  over  the  intervening 
space  which  lies  between  those  vastly  distant 
centers  that  we  may  hope  to  find  the  inklings  of  a 
more  far-reaching  law,  by  which  nebulae  like  that 
of  Orion  crystallize  out  into  separate  star  systems, 
just  as  in  the  rocks,  whether  igneous,  metamorphic, 
or  sedimentary,  we  find  the  attraction  of  cohesion 
yield  to  that  of  crystallization,  until  the  whole  cleft 
rock  blazes  with  countless  garnets  in  the  schist 
and  quartz  crystals  in  the  gneiss,  or  reveals  the 
yellow  specks  of  olivine  in  volcanic  ejections. 

We  shall  find  in  the  processes  concerned  with  the 
development  of  living  things  the  workings  of  a  simi- 
lar great  law,  perhaps  the  same.  Wherever  there 
is  the  possibility  of  life,  there  we  find  life.  There 
seems  to  be  an  all-pervading  vital  tension,  so  to 
speak,  an  energizing  force,  which  drives  the  evo- 
lution and  ascent  of  life  forward  and  upward  by 
successive  leaps,  as  it  were,  from  type  to  type, 
from  race  to  race,  and  even  from  nation  to  nation. 
In  this  universal  forward  movement  we  may  dimly 
discern  the  primordial  creative  and  developing 
impulse,  constantly  acting,  but  manifesting  visible 


248      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

change  only  at  intervals  as  gathering  forces  accu- 
mulate and  equilibrium  is  disturbed.  It  manifests 
itself  in  all  the  fields  of  nature, — vital,  chemical, 
molecular,  molar,  systemic.  It  is  the  ever-acting, 
eternal  past,  present,  and  future,  the  macrocosm 
and  the  microcosm,  the  panurgus,  the  Brahma,  the 
Ancient  of  Days,  and  cannot  be  silenced  or  evaded : 

"  They  reckon  ill  who  leave  me  out, 
When  ME  they  fly  I  am  the  wings. ' ' 

R.  Kalley  Miller,  in  his  "  Romance  of  Astron- 
omy," says,  "  It  would  be  hopeless  to  attempt  ex- 
pressing in  ordinary  language  the  vast  distance  at 
which  these  clusters  of  stars  are  situated  from  us. 
If  we  were  to  reckon  it  in  miles,  or  even  in  millions 
of  miles,  figures  would  pile  upon  figures  till  in 
their  number  all  definite  idea  of  their  value  was 
lost.  We  must  choose  another  unit  to  measure 
these  infinitudes  of  space, — a  unit  compared  with 
which  the  dimensions  of  our  own  solar  system 
shrink  into  absolute  nothingness.  The  velocity 
of  light  is  such  that  it  would  flash  fifteen  times 
from  pole  to  pole  of  our  earth  between  two  beats 
of  the  pendulum.  It  bridges  the  huge  chasm  that 
separates  us  from  the  sun  in  little  more  than  eight 
minutes.  But  the  light  that  shows  us  these  faint 
star-clusters  has  been  travelling  with  this  frightful 
velocity  for  more  than  two  million  years  since  it 
left  its  distant  source.  We  see  them  to-day  in  the 
fields  of  our  telescopes,  not  as  they  are  now,  but 
as  they  were  countless  ages  before  the  creation  of 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULA.  249 

man  upon  the  earth.     What  they  are  now  who  can 
tell?" 

The  movements  of  solar  systems  through  space 
are  unquestionably  controlled  by  some  wider  law 
than  that  of  gravitation,  and  it  still  remains  for 
science  to  seek  its  hidden  principles  and  discover 
its  mode  of  operation.  We  know  that  some  stars 
travel  alone,  like  the  star  already  noted,  No.  1830 
of  Groombridge's  catalogue ;  that  others  travel  in 
pairs,  like  the  double  star  Mizar  and  its  companion 
Alcor ;  and  others  in  groups,  like  the  stars  Beta, 
Gamma,  Delta,  Epsilon  and  Zeta,  of  the  constella- 
tion Ursa  Major ;  that  we  are  driving  towards  the 
constellation  Lyra  and  leaving  behind  us  Sirius 
and  its  fellows,  and  that  many,  if  not  all,  of  the 
stars  whose  motions  we  can  measure  have  a  rapid 
movement  through  space,  but  under  what  control, 
in  accord  with  what  hidden  harmony,  and  under 
what  general  plan  they  move,  we  do  not  know; 
but  the  laws  of  electrical  action  of  the  circling 
planets  upon  their  central  suns,  and  of  these  upon 
space,  we  can  readily  account  for  by  the  similar 
operation  of  the  same  laws  within  our  own  solar 
domain ;  and  we  know  by  the  similar  terms  of  the 
ratio  of  distribution  of  light  that  this  is  commen- 
surate in  extent  with  the  law  of  gravity,  and  oper- 
ates in  a  like  proportion  of  energy  over  all  inter- 
vening distances ;  so  that  wherever  our  sun  presents 
a  visible  point  of  light,  there  it  is  pouring  its  energy 
into  space,  and  every  sun  we  can  see,  every  galaxy, 
every  star-cluster,  nay,  every  nebula,  is  likewise 
pouring  into  the  interplanetary  space  of  our  own 


250      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

solar  system  its  proportionate  quota  of  energy.  The 
very  fact  that  we  can  see  the  star  shine  is  itself  the 
fullest  evidence  that  this  is  so,  and  evidence  also 
that  the  law  of  gravitation  there,  too,  is  still  in 
force,  operating  over  these  same  distances,  and  with 
the  same  proportionate  energy. 

Knowing  all  this,  we  can  read  with  a  new  light 
the  grand  vistas  of  the  skies,  with  their  starry 
denizens,  and  claim  them  all  as  parts  of  our  own 
family;  and  the  mutual  interchange  of  attractive 
energy  and  of  light  and  heat  will  not  fail  between 
us  until  those  inconceivable  distances  shall  have 
been  reached  which  human  knowledge  can  never 
span  and  where  speculation  fails ;  and  even  there, 
from  out  those  dark  abysses, — dark  to  our  human 
eyes, — the  call  will  still  faintly  reach  us,  and  our 
response  will  reach  them  also,  though  we  shall 
never  have  tangible  evidence  that  such  mutual  ties 
continue  to  exist.  Industriously  our  planets  gather 
their  mighty  energies  from  the  surrounding  springs 
of  space,  as  one  dips  water  from  a  crystal  stream ; 
we  hand  it  over  to  our  sun,  and  he,  the  royal  high- 
priest,  sprinkles  it  in  glittering  diamond-sprays 
over  all  those  countless  suns  and  their  subject 
worlds,  and  they  are  baptized  with  an  eternal  bap- 
tism into  our  common  brotherhood  and  we  into 
theirs.  Our  familiar  planets,  Mars,  Jupiter,  Nep- 
tune, the  earth,  and  even  our  little  moon,  seem  to 
raise  their  voices  and  take  actual  part  in  the  coun- 
cils of  almighty  power,  to  move  about  as  perpetual 
benefactors,  gathering  and  spreading  beneficence 
abroad,  instead  of  cowering,  a  hapless  few,  like 


THE  RESOLVABLE  NEBULAE.  251 

storm-stayed  travellers,  around  the  dying  embers 
of  our  poor  old  sun,  passive  recipients  of  the  light 
and  heat  and  life  which  we  have  heen  taught  to 
believe  are  slowly  sinking  into  ashes  and  fading 
away  in  eternal  darkness  and  death.  One  swift 
glance  into  these  boundless  truths  is  better  for  the 
human  soul  than  the  slow  passage  of  whole  hope- 
less centuries,  which  leave  as  their  inevitable  leg- 
acy on  earth  a  vast  and  final  catastrophe,  in  which 
everything  that  gave  us  light  and  heat  and  being 
must  perish  forever.  Has  it,  indeed,  come  to  this, 
that  the  last  word  which  science  has  to  offer  is, 
"  After  us  the  deluge"  ?  By  no  means.  We  have 
merely  been  endeavoring  to  measure  the  right 
hand  of  God  by  weighing  and  measuring  a  single 
isolated  one  of  his  countless  multitude  of  suns. 

It  is  as  though  one  standing  beside  a  great  water- 
wheel  should  estimate'  its  power  and  rotation  by 
measuring  the  width  and  depth  of  the  buckets  and 
calculating  the  weight  of  water  which  its  thirty- 
two  receptacles  contain,  saying,  "  at  its  present 
rate  in  so  many  seconds  it  will  cease  to  move." 
But  we  take  him  to  the  water-gate,  and  show  it 
wide  open ;  to  the  great  dam  above  it  which  con- 
tains cubic  miles  of  water ;  and  still  beyond  that  to 
the  mighty  fountains  bursting  forth  with  their  rush 
and  roar  from  the  rock-ribbed  fastnesses  of  the 
eternal  hills,  and  pouring  their  unfailing  flood-tide 
down  forever  and  ever.  And  we  do  not  pause  even 
here  :  we  show  him  the  vapors  rising  from  the  spent 
water  again,  condensing  into  clouds,  pouring  down 
in  torrents  of  rain  among  the  hills,  and  that  these 


252      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY, 

continuously  feed  the  sources  of  the  fountains, 
which  in  turn  supply  the  wheel  almost  to  bursting. 
And  so  it  is  with  the  glorious  mechanism  of  the 
heavens. 

The  source  of  solar  energy  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  sun  itself,  but  in  his  environment ;  and  he 
himself,  in  all  his  glory,  is  but  the  king,  crowned 
with  gold,  blazing  with  rich  apparel,  and  scattering 
benefits  among  his  satellites,  not  from  his  own  pri- 
vate treasury,  but  who  himself  is  enriched  by  the 
mighty  tribute  with  which  his  willing  subjects  con- 
tinually endow  him,  and  to  whom  alone  he  owes 
all  his  pride  and  power  and  wealth  and  magnifi- 
cence, and  which  he,  in  turn,  so  freely  expends, 
transmuted  in  form  alone,  in  the  perpetual  im- 
provement and  welfare  of  his  domain.  He  is  the 
faithful  ruler,  but  not  the  creator ;  the  beneficent 
monarch,  but  not  the  god. 


CHAPTER    XL 

THE    GASEOUS    NEBULA. 

WHEN  we  reach  the  irresolvable  nebulae,  we  un- 
questionably have  approached  the  creative  period 
of  solar  systems  and  in  many  cases  of  whole  gal- 
axies. These  are  multifarious  in  form,  but  all  can 
be  reduced  to  a  few  comprehensive  types.  In  de- 
termining the  question  as  to  whether  these  irre- 
solvable nebulae  were  composed  of  distinct  stars 
like  the  Milky  Way,  but  too  distant  to  be  resolved 
from  their  mist-like  light  into  discrete  stars  by  the 
most  powerful  telescopes,  or  whether  they  were 
gaseous  in  constitution, — that  is,  composed  of  dif- 
fused gaseous  elements  not  condensed  into  solar 
bodies,— the  spectroscope  became  the  final  and  in- 
fallible test.  Of  this  instrument,  thus  used,  Pro- 
fessor Proctor,  in  his  "  Star-Clouds  and  Star- 
Mist,"  says,  "  A  very  few  words  will  explain  the 
whole  matter  to  readers  who  remember  the  three 
fundamental  laws  of  this  new  mode  of  investiga- 
tion,— viz.,  that,  first,  light  from  a  burning  solid  or 
liquid  source  gives  the  rainbow- colored  streak  of 
light  commonly  known  as  the  prismatic  spectrum ; 
secondly,  when  vapors  surround  such  a  source  of 
light,  the  rainbow-colored  streak  is  crossed  by  dark 
lines ;  and,  thirdly,  when  the  source  of  light  is  gas, 
there  is  no  longer  a  rainbow-colored  streak,  but 

22  253 


254     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

merely  a  finite  number  of  bright  lines."  Dr.  Hug- 
gins  selected  for  investigation  the  small  planetary 
nebula  in  the  Dragon.  He  says,  "When  I  had 
directed  the  telescope  armed  with  the  spectrum 
apparatus  to  this  nebula,  I  at  first  suspected  that 
some  derangement  of  the  instrument  had  taken 
place,  for  no  spectrum  was  seen,  but  only  a  short 
line  of  light.  I  then  found  that  the  light  of  this 
nebula,  unlike  any  other  extra-terrestrial  light 
which  had  yet  been  subjected  by  me  to  prismatic 
analysis,  was  of  definite  colors,  and  therefore  could 
not  form  a  spectrum.  A  great  part  of  the  light  is 
monochromatic,  and  so  remains  concentrated  in  a 
bright  line  occupying  a  position  in  the  spectrum 
corresponding  to  its  color.  Careful  examination 
showed  a  narrower  and  much  fainter  line  near  the 
one  first  discovered.  Beyond  this  point,  about 
three  times  as  far  from  the  first  line,  was  a  third 
exceedingly  faint  line.  From  the  position  of  one 
of  the  bright  lines  it  is  inferred  the  gas  nitrogen  is 
one  of  the  constituents  of  the  nebula;  another  line 
indicates  the  existence  of  the  gas  hydrogen  in  that  far- 
off  system ;  the  third  line  has  not  yet  been  asso- 
ciated with  any  known  terrestrial  element,  though 
it  is  near  one  belonging  to  the  metal  barium,  and 
still  nearer  one  belonging  to  oxygen  ;  a  fourth  line  oc- 
casionally seen  belongs  to  hydrogen."  Professor 
Proctor  says,  "  Dr.  Huggins  examined  a  large 
number  of  the  planetary  nebulae  (so  called),  ob- 
taining in  each  case  a  spectrum  which  indicates 
gaseity.  In  some  cases  only  one  line  could  be 
seen,  in  others  two,  more  commonly  three,  and  in 


THE  GASEOUS  NEBULAE.  255 

a  few  instances  four.  When  these  lines  were  seen 
they  invariably  corresponded  in  position  with  those 
already  described.  The  single  line  sometimes  seen 
corresponded  with  the  brightest  line  of  the  three ; 
and  when  a  second  line  was  visible,  this  also  was 
no  new  line,  but  agreed  with  the  second  brightest 
line  in  the  three-line  spectrum.  The  fourth  line 
was  seen  only  in  the  spectrum  of  a  very  bright, 
small,  blue  planetary  nebula,  but  was  later  ob- 
served in  other  cases,  and  especially  in  the  great 
Orion  nebula."  At  this  time  the  latter  was  not 
visible,  but  when  Dr.  Huggins  had  opportunity  to 
examine  it,  he  says,  "  The  telescopic  observations 
of  this  nebula  seem  to  show  that  it  is  suitable  to  a 
crucial  test  of  the  usually  received  opinion  that  the 
resolution  of  a  nebula  into  bright  stellar  points  is 
a  certain  indication  that  the  nebula  consists  of  dis- 
crete stars."  Professor  Proctor  says,  "  A  simple 
glance  resolved  the  difficulty.  The  light  from  the 
brightest  part  of  the  nebula — the  very  part  which 
under  Lord  Rosse's  great  reflector  blazed  with  in- 
numerable points  of  light — gave  a  spectrum  identi- 
cal in  all  respects  with  that  which  Huggins  had 
obtained  from  the  planetary  nebulae.  Thus,  what 
had  been  deemed  boldness  in  Herschel — namely, 
that  he  should  have  associated  the  wildest '  and 
most  fantastic  nebula  in  the  heavens  with  the  cir- 
cular and  (in  ordinary  telescopes)  almost  uniformly 
luminous  planetary  nebulae — was  unexpectedly  con-  ' 
firmed."  The  spectrum  of  this  nebula  has  more 
recently  been  photographed  by  a  long  exposure  in 
the  camera  of  the  prepared  plate.  Of  the  result, 


256     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Professor  Proctor  thus  speaks,  "  The  nebula  is 
seen  to  be  in  great  part  gaseous,  and,  where  gase- 
ous, to  shine  in  the  main  with  the  tints  described 
above;  but  parts  of  the  nebula  are  not  gaseous, 
and  those  portions  which  are  so  are  not  all  consti- 
tuted in  the  same  manner.  .  .  .  That  portion  which 
is  called  the  fish's  mouth  gives  a  continuous  spec- 
trum ;  in  other  words,  the  same  spectrum  which 
we  obtain  from  a  star  or  a  star-cluster.  This  is 
the  spectrum  arising  from  a  glowing  solid  or  liquid 
mass,  or  if  from  a  gaseous  body,  then  the  gaseous 
body  must  be  in  a  state  of  great  compression.  .  .  . 
But  the  stars  thus  forming  must  be  immersed  in 
the  glowing  gas  forming  the  general  substance  of 
the  nebula.  ...  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose 
that  the  nebula  is  a  flat  surface;  .  .  .  nebulous 
matter  lies  also,  in  all  probability  (certainly  one 
might  fairly  say),  between  us  and  the  stellar  aggre- 
gration  as  well  as  on  the  farther  side."  Further, 
the  same  author  says,  "  If,  as  is  probable,  the  lu- 
minosity of  the  gaseous  portion  of  the  Orion  nebula 
is  accompanied  by  but  a  relatively  small  propor- 
tion of  heat,  then  the  rays  from  the  violet  and 
ultra-violet  part  of  the  spectrum  are  likely  to  give 
us  much  more  complete  information  respecting 
the  constitution  of  these  nebulous  masses  than  can 
be  derived  from  the  visible  part  of  the  spectrum." 
In  the  recent  work  of  Professor  Ball,  "  In  the 
High  Heavens,"  that  author  says,  "  There  are, 
however,  good  grounds  for  believing  that  nebulae 
really  do  undergo  some  changes,  at  least  as  regards 
brightness  ;  but  whether  these  changes  are  such  as 


THE  GASEOUS  NEBULA.  257 

Herschel's  theory  would  seem  to  require  is  quite 
another  question.  Perhaps  the  best-authenticated 
instance  is  that  of  the  variable  nebula  in  the  con- 
stellation of  Taurus,  discovered  by  Mr.  Hind  in 
1852.  At  the  time  of  its  discovery  this  object  was 
a  small  nebula  about  one  minute  in  diameter,  with 
a  central  condensation  of  light.  D' Arrest,  the  dis- 
tinguished astronomer  of  Copenhagen,  found  in 
1861  that  this  nebula  had  vanished.  On  the  29th 
of  December,  1861,  the  nebula  was  again  seen  in 
the  powerful  refractor  at  Pulkova,  but  on  Decem- 
ber 12,  1863,  Mr.  Hind  failed  to  detect  it  with  the 
telescope  by  which  it  had  been  originally  discov- 
ered. .  .  In  1868,  0.  Struve,  observing  at  Pulkova, 
detected  another  nebulous  spot  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  place  of  the  missing  object,  but  this  also  has 
now  vanished.  Struve,  however,  does  not  consider 
that  the  nebula  of  1868  is  distinct  from  Hind's 
nebula,  but  he  says,  '  What  I  see  is  certainly  the 
variable  nebula  itself,  only  in  altered  brightness 
and  spread  over  a  larger  space.  Some  traces  of 
nebulosity  are  still  to  be  seen  exactly  on  the  spot 
where  Hind  and  D' Arrest  placed  the  variable 
nebula.  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  this 
nebula  is  in  the  vicinity  of  a  variable  star  which 
changes  somewhat  irregularly  from  the  ninth  to 
the  twelfth  magnitude.  At  the  time  of  the  dis- 
covery in  1861  both  the  star  and  the  nebula  were 
brighter  than  they  have  since  become.'  ...  It 
must  be  admitted  that  the  changes  are  such  as 
would  not  be  expected  if  Herschel's  theory  were 
universally  true.  Another  remarkable  occurrence 
r  22* 


258      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

in  modern  astronomy  may  be  cited  as  having  some 
bearing  on  the  question  as  to  the  actual  evidence 
for  or  against  Herschel's  theory.  On  November 
24,  1876,  Dr.  Schmidt  noticed  a  new  star  of  the 
third  magnitude  in  the  constellation  Cygnus.  .  .  . 
The  brilliancy  gradually  declined  until,  on  the  13th 
of  December,  Mr.  Hind  found  it  to  be  of  the  sixth 
magnitude.  The  spectrum  .  .  .  exhibited  several 
bright  lines  which  indicated  that  the  star  differed 
from  other  stars  by  the  possession  of  vast  masses 
of  glowing  gaseous  material.  .  .  .  September  2, 
1877,  it  was  then  below  the  tenth  magnitude  and 
of  a  decidedly  bluish  tint.  Viewed  through  the 
spectroscope,  its  light  was  almost  completely  mono- 
chromatic, and  appeared  to  be  indistinguishable 
from  that  which  is  often  found  to  come  from  neb- 
ulae. ...  It  would  seem  certain  that  we  have  an 
instance  before  us  in  which  a  star  has  changed 
into  a  planetary  nebula  of  small  angular  diameter. 
.  .  .  Professor  Pickering,  however,  has  since  found 
slight  traces  of  a  continuous  spectrum,  but  the  ob- 
ject has  now  become  so  extremely  faint  that  such 
observations  are  very  difficult.  .  .  .  For  the  nebu- 
lar theory  we  require  evidence  of  the  conversion 
of  nebulae  into  stars."  And  not,  it  may  be  added, 
of  stars  into  nebulas. 

Of  the  irregular  nebulae,  Professor  Proctor  says, 
"  It  may  well  chance,  as  long  since  suggested  by 
Professor  Clark,  of  Cincinnati,  and  as  more  cau- 
tiously hinted  by  Dr.  Huggins,  that  in  the  varieties 
of  constitution  observed  in  the  irregular  nebulae, 
and  the  evidence  such  varieties  afford  of  progres- 


THE   GASEOUS  NEBULA.  259 

sive  changes,  we  may  find  not  merely  direct  evi- 
dence of  the  development  of  suns  and  sun-systems 
from  the  great  masses  of  nebulous  matter,  but 
even  what  would  be  a  far  more  important  and  im- 
pressive result, — actual  evidence  of  the  develop- 
ment of  so-called  elements  from  substances  really 
elementary,  or,  at  any  rate,  one  stage  nearer  the 
elementary  condition  than  are  our  hydrogen,  nitro- 
gen, oxygen,  carbon,  and  so  forth.  The  peculiarity 
of  the  spectral  indications  of  the  presence  of  nitro- 
gen and  hydrogen  in  the  nebula,  that  only  one 
line  of  nitrogen  and  two  or  three  lines  of  hydro- 
gen are  discernible,  instead  of  a  complete  spectrum 
of  either  element  as  seen  under  any  known  condi- 
tions, seems  suggestive  of  what  may  be  called  a 
more  elemental  condition  of  hydrogen  and  nitro- 
gen." Whether  this  be  so,  or  whether  these  pe- 
culiarities are  due  to  self-obscuration,  or  mutual 
reversal  of  the  familiar  lines  due  to  the  enormous 
disturbances  of  the  nebular  mass  which  must 
exist,  it  is  certain  that  there  is  one  terrestrial 
substance,  at  least,  which  acts  invariably,  in  com- 
bination and  chemical  affinity,  as  a  simple  element 
in  inorganic  chemistry,  but  which  is,  in  fact,  com- 
pound,— to  wit,  the  hypothetical  radical  ammonium, 
which  is  closely  allied  with  the  simple  alkaline 
metals  potassium  and  sodium,  forming  with  them 
a  single  group;  and  yet,  while  the  others  have 
always  remained  as  fixed,  primitive  elements,  the 
hypothetical  element  ammonium  alone  is  a  com- 
posite substance  consisting  of  hydrogen  and  nitro- 
gen, two  of  the  invariable  gaseous  constituents  of 


260     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

all  these  nebulae.  In  comets  we  find,  vaguely  ex- 
pressed, an  occasional  strongly  marked  sodium 
line,  and  also  the  spectrum  of  carbon;  in  these 
gaseous  nebulae  we  find,  as  yet,  no  trace  of  carbon, 
and  this  element  is  so  closely  allied  to  hydrogen  in 
its  chemical  affinities  and  reactions  as  to  suggest 
that  it  may  be  the  same  element  or  some  alloy  of 
it,  or  in  some  allotropic  form,  as  we  find  to  be  the 
case  with  other  simple  elements  under  special  con- 
ditions. In  organic  chemistry — the  chemistry  of 
organic  life — we  find  almost  innumerable  compound 
radicals  which  act  as  simple  elements  in  combina- 
tion, but  which  we  can  combine  and  separate  into 
their  constituents  at  will ;  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, in  their  various  reactions,  they  behave  as 
elemental  substances,  and  were  it  not  that  our 
analyses  are  able  to  resolve  them,  as  the  spectro- 
scope resolves  the  nebulae,  we  might  well  believe 
that  here  also  we  were  dealing  with  simple  primary 
elements.  It  is  almost  certain  that  great  discov- 
eries in  this  field  of  chemistry  are  not  far  distant, 
which  will  recall  with  wondering  surprise  the  now 
universally  exploded  fallacies  of  the  "  Philoso- 
pher's Stone"  and  the  "  Universal  Solvent."  In- 
deed, we  may  find  in  the  electrical  energies  of  the 
planets  and  the  self-repulsive  force  of  the  electro- 
spheres  of  the  earth  and  moon  possible  grounds 
for  investigating  anew  some  of  the  abandoned 
tenets  of  astrology,  in  the  hope  that  the  light  of 
science  may  disclose  some  basis,  at  least,  for  what, 
at  one  time, — arid  for  nearly  all  time,  in  fact, — was 
the  universally  accepted  belief,  not  only  of  the 


THE  GASEOUS  NEBULA.  261 

ignorant,  but  of  those  the  wisest  and  most  learned 
of  their  day  and  generation.  If  the  planets  by 
their  position  can  cloud  the  sun,  nearly  a  million 
miles  in  diameter,  with  spots,  or  shed  the  bril- 
liance of  the  aurora  borealis  over  all  our  skies, 
may  they  not  also  cloud  the  embryonic  intellect, 
or  charge  it  with  energies  for  a  career  of  pros- 
perity or  of  disaster?  May  not  the  unseen  cur- 
rents, or  the  electric  storms  around  us,  or  the  vast 
electrical  phenomena  of  the  sun  as  well  affect  the 
sprouting  germs  of  the  husbandman  or  some  ab- 
normally rapid  development  of  an  insect  pest  as 
the  light,  the  warmth,  the  moisture,  or  the  cold, 
which,  to  our  coarser  vision,  are  alone  apparent? 
Fancy  and  fallacy  revel  luxuriantly  where  science 
fails,  but  truth  existed  long  before  science  was  sys- 
tematized, and  the  supercilious  condemnation  of 
once  generally  accepted  views  without  examination 
is  merely  pseudo-science,  and  scarcely  a  single 
grade  higher  in  the  scale  than  ignorant  supersti- 
tion itself.  And  every  new  advance  in  knowledge 
requires  a  new  overhauling  of  abandoned  material, 
just  as  a  new  advance  in  metallurgical  knowledge 
enables  us  sometimes  to  work  over  again  our  once- 
rejected  mining  dumps  with  decided  profit.  In- 
deed, science  itself  is  but  a  collection  of  observed 
facts  reduced  to  system,  and  among  the  shrewd 
and  practical  miners  there  is  a  well-known  saying, 
"  The  ore  is  where  you  find  it,"  which  has  fre- 
quently put  scientific  assertion  to  the  blush. 

A  study  of  the  beautiful  mezzotint  plates,  from 
the  drawings  of  the  Earl  of  Rosse,  contained  in 


262      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Professor   Nichol's   splendid  work,  "  The   Archi- 
tecture of  the  Heavens,"  will  clearly  disclose  the 
forms,   as   revealed  by   a   powerful   telescope,  of 
many  of  these  gaseous  nebulae.     Of  such  nebulae, 
Appleton's    Cyclopaedia    says,    "  Nebulae    proper, 
or  those  which  have  not  been  definitely  resolved, 
are  found  in  nearly  every  quarter  of  the  firmament, 
though  abounding  especially  near  those   regions 
which  have  fewest  stars.     Scarcely  any  are  found 
near  the  Milky  Way,  and  the  great  mass  of  them 
lie   in  the  two  opposite  spaces  farthest  removed 
from  this  circle.     Their  forms  are  very  various, 
and  often  undergo  strange  and  unexpected  changes 
as  the  power  of  the  telescope  with  which  they  are 
viewed  is  increased,  so  as  not  to  be  recognizable 
in  some  cases  as  the  same  objects."     An  example 
of  this  is  shown  in  Plate  X.  (Figs.  1  and  2)  of 
Professor  Nichol's   work,  which   gives  a  greatly 
enlarged  view  of  those  shown  in  Figs.  1  and  2  of 
Plate  IX.     (For  Fig.  2  of  Nichol's  Plate  X.,  see 
illustration  of  nebula  with  double  sun,  in  previous 
chapter.)     Professor   Nichol   says,  "In   every  in- 
stance examined,  save  one,  the  planetary  nebulae 
are  nebulae  with  hollow  centers."     The  inference 
which  this  writer  makes,  that  such  a  planetary 
nebula  consists  of  "a  grand  annular  cluster  of 
stars,"  has  been  since  disproved   by  the  discov- 
eries of  the  spectroscope,  but  the  telescopic  form 
remains  true,  and  still  awaits  further  interpreta- 
tion.   While  the  irresolvable  nebulae  seem  to  seek 
some  retired  spot  in  space  for  their  processes,  like 
certain  animals  when  incubating,  this  rule  is  not 


THE  GASEOUS  NEBULAE. 


263 


Gaseous  nebulae  (non-systemic  in  development).— Fig.  1,  the  Crab  nebula ; 
Fig.  2,  Dumb-bell  nebula  (reduced  from  Nichol,  after  Lord  Rosse) ;  Fig.  3, 
nebula  in  Sobieski's  Crown ;  Fig.  4,  Catherine-wheel  nebula  (from  Flam- 
marion). 

In  Fig.  1  gravity  preponderates,  and  electrical  repulsion  drives  the  radiant 
matter  upward  and  outward.  This  nebula  resembles  a  comet  in  its  phenom- 
ena ;  a  large  nebula  in  the  neighborhood  in  rear  of  the  Crab's  body  would 
produce  this  effect. 

Fig.  2  shows  a  bipolar  form  produced  by  repulsion  acting  against  gravity ; 
the  two  heads  connected  by  a  narrow  strand,  the  lower  head  elongated  by 
internal  repulsion,  and  the  horns  curved  upward  by  the  attraction  of  gravity 
of  the  upper  head.  This  figure  suggests  the  division  of  a  comet  (like  Biela's) 
into  two  smaller  comets. 

In  Fig.  3  gravity  and  electrical  repulsion  are  nearly  equal ;  the  result  is  an 
elongated  lineal  nebula,  warped  into  irregular  curves  by  counter  currents  of 
space. 

Fig.  4  is  rotary,  and  the  repulsive  forces  will  probably  entirely  overcome 
gravity  and  result  in  the  formation  of  an  annular  nebula  with  hollow  center. 


264     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

universal.  Of  this,  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  says, 
"  The  density  of  nebular  distribution  increased 
with  the  distance  from  the  galactic  zone  for  the 
irresolvable  nebulce,  but  diminished  with  that  dis- 
tance for  the  clusters.  .  .  .  There  is  not  a  gradual 
condensation  of  nebulae  towards  two  opposite  re- 
gions, near  the  poles  of  the  galactic  zone,  but  the 
nebulae  are  gathered  into  streams,  nodules,  and 
irregular  aggregations  such  as  we  find  in  the 
grouping  of  stars.  .  .  .  Between  stars  and  nebulae 
their  arrangement  follows  the  law  of  contrast. 
There  are  two  remarkable  exceptions  to  this  law, — 
the  Magellanic  Clouds.  In  these,  where  stars  of 
all  orders,  from  the  ninth  magnitude  to  irresolvable 
stellar  aggregations,  are  as  richly  gathered  as  in 
the  galactic  zone,  nebulae  of  all  orders  are  also 
gathered  richly,  even  more  so  than  anywhere  else 
over  the  whole  heavens."  In  the  same  work, 
article  "Nebula,"  it  is  stated  of  the  planetary 
nebulae, "  There  are  several  which  have  perfectly  the 
appearance  of  a  ring,  and  are  called  annular  nebulae. 
.  .  .  Some  appear  to  be  physically  connected  in 
pairs  like  double  stars.  Most  of  the  small  nebulae 
have  the  general  appearance  of  a  bright  central 
nucleus  enveloped  in  a  nebulous  veil.  This  nucleus 
is  sometimes  concentrated  as  a  star  and  sometimes 
diffused.  The  enveloping  veil  is  sometimes  circular 
and  sometimes  elliptical,  with  every  degree  of 
eccentricity  between  a  circle  and  a  straight  line. 
There  are  some  which,  with  a  general  disposition 
to  symmetry  of  form,  have  great  branching  arms 
or  filaments  with  more  or  less  precision  of  outline. 


THE   GASEOUS  NEBULA.  265 

An  example  of  this  is  Lord  Rosse's  Crab  nebula. 
Another  remarkable  object  is  the  nebula  in  An- 
dromeda, which  is  visible  with  the  naked  eye,  and 
is  the  only  one  which  was  discovered  before  the 
invention  of  the  telescope.  Simon  Marius  (1612) 
describes  its  appearance  as  that  of  a  candle  shining 
through  horn.  Besides  the  above,  which  have 
comparatively  regular  forms,  there  are  others  more 
diffused  and  devoid  of  symmetry  of  shape.  A 
remarkable  example  is  the  great  nebula  in  Orion, 
discovered  by  Huygens  in  1656.  . ' .  .  The  great 
nebula  in  Argo  is  another  example  of  this  class." 

The  number  of  nebulae  recognized  in  all  the 
heavens  is  upward  of  five  thousand,  and  new 
ones  are  being  constantly  discovered.  Of  these 
objects,  Professor  Mchol  says,  "  The  spiral  figure 
is  characteristic  of  an  extensive  class  of  galaxies. 
Majestic  associations  of  orbs,  arranged  in  this  wind- 
ing form,  with  branches  issuing  like  a  divergent 
geometric  curve  from  a  globular  cluster."  These 
nebulae,  however,  are  not  associations  of  orbs ;  they 
are  gaseous  nebulae  apparently  in  process  of  evolu- 
tion. This  author  (Professor  Nichol)  presents  views 
of  such  spiral  nebulae  either  foreshortened  to  the 
view,  so  as  to  form  a  long  ellipse,  or  with  the  con- 
volutions of  the  spiral  apparently  raised  from  the 
horizontal  plane  into  a  conical  form,  and  showing 
the  black  streaks  of  space  which  lie  between  the 
convolutions,  others  seen  in  side  view,  others  in 
front,  and,  in  fact,  presented  to  the  eye  in  every 
position  for  observation.  The  author  wrote  before 
the  days  of  the  spectroscope,  and  that  he  should 
M  '  23 


266      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

conceive  these  vast  objects  to  be  spirals  made  up 
of  blazing  suns  like  our  Milky  Way — vast  galaxies, 
in  fact — was  an  inevitable  conclusion  at  that  time ; 
but  we  now  know  that  these  spiral  nebulae  are 
gaseous,  are  apparently  in  process  of  manufacture, 
and  we  can  see  them  in  their  different  stages  of 
evolution,  and  may  perhaps  learn  something  about 
the  processes  by  which  solar  systems  and  galaxies 
of  suns  are  formed.  Of  one  of  these  strange  but 
exceedingly  instructive  objects,  Professor  Ball,  in 
his  work  "  In  the  High  Heavens,"  says,  "  Fig.  3 
represents  one  of  the  famous  spiral  nebulae  (that  of 
Canes  Yenatici)  discovered  many  years  ago  by  the 
late  Earl  of  Rosse.  The  object  is  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye.  It  seems  like  a  haze  surrounding  the 
stars,  which  the  telescope  discloses  in  considerable 
numbers,  as  shown  in  the  picture.  "When  viewed 
through  an  instrument  of  sufficient  power,  a  mar- 
vellous spectacle  is  revealed.  There  are  wisps  and 
patches  of  glowing  cloud-like  material  which  shine 
not  as  our  clouds  do,  by  reflecting  to  us  the  sun- 
light. This  celestial  cloud  is  no  doubt  self-lumi- 
nous ;  it  is,  in  fact,  composed  of  vapors  so  intensely 
heated  that  they  glow  with  fervor.  As  I  write,  I 
have  Lord  Eosse's  elaborate  drawing  of  this  nebula 
before  me,  and  on  the  margin  of  this  stupendous 
object  the  nebula  fades  away  so  tenderly  that  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  say  where  the  luminosity 
terminates.  Probably  this  nebula  will  in  some 
remote  age  condense  down  into  more  solid  sub- 
stances. It  contains,  no  doubt,  enough  material  to 
make  many  globes  as  big  as  our  earth.  Before, 


THE  GASEOUS  NEBULAE.  267 

however,  it  settles  down  into  dark  bodies  like  the 
earth,  it  will  have  to  pass  through  stages  in  which 
its  condensing  materials  will  form  bright  sun-like 
bodies.  It  seems  as  if  this  process  of  condensation 
might  almost  be  witnessed  at  the  present  time  in 
some  parts  of  the  great  object.  There  are  also 
some  very  striking  nebulae  which  are  often  spoken 
of  as  planetary.  They  are  literally  balls  of  bluish- 
colored  gas  or  vapor,  apparently  more  dense  than 
that  which  forms  the  nebula  now  under  consider- 
ation. Such  globes  are  doubtless  undergoing  con- 
densation, and  may  be  regarded  as  incipient 
worlds."  Of  these  spiral  nebulae  it  is  said,  in  Ap- 
pleton's  Cyclopaedia,  "  Many  of  them  had  been 
long  known  as  nebulae,  but  their  characteristic 
spiral  form  had  never  been  suspected.  They  have 
the  appearance  of  a  maelstrom  of  stellar  matter, 
and  are  among  the  most  interesting  objects  in  the 
heavens."  Of  their  spectra  it  is  said,  "  The  bright- 
line  spectrum  is  given  by  all  the  irregular  nebulae 
hitherto  examined  and  by  the  planetary  nebulae." 
That  is  to  say,  these  nebulae  are  gaseous  in  consti- 
tution, and  have  not  yet  reached  the  stage  of  solar 
condensation  which  marks  the  existence  of  indi- 
vidual suns. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS  :    ITS    BASIS   AND   ITS   DIF- 
FICULTIES. 

"  There  sinks  the  nebulous  star  we  call  the  Sun, 
If  that  hypothesis  of  theirs  be  sound." — TENNYSON. 

"WHILE  the  nebular  theory  of  Laplace  is  now 
the  generally  accepted  scientific  hypothesis  of  the 
formation  of  our  solar  system  and  of  all  solar  sys- 
tems, it  finds  its  strongest  support  in  the  mode  in 
which  it  seeks  to  account  for  the  heat  and  light  of 
the  sun, — that  is,  that  the  central  orb,  gradually 
condensing  down  from  an  original  volume  as  large 
as  the  orbit  of  Neptune,  at  least,  after  disengaging 
the  planetary  rings,  continued  to  condense  to  its 
present  volume,  and  still  so  continues,  the  molecu- 
lar motions  arrested  by  condensation  under  gravity 
reappearing  in  the  form  of  the  energy  of  light  and 
heat,  and  that  this  process  of  degradation  will 
continue  until,  finally,  the  sun  becomes  a  solid 
inert  mass,  incapable  by  further  condensation  of 
exciting  the  ethereal  undulations  in  space  which 
constitute  heat  and  light,  when  the  whole  process 
will  finally  cease,  the  sun  will  die  out,  the  planets 
continue  to  rotate  in  darkness,  and  the  whole  ma- 
chinery be  left  running  through  an  eternal  night, 
like  a  vast  mill  in  the  hands  of  a  negligent  watch- 
man (or  rather  no  watchman  at  all),  left  to  run 
268 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  269 

itself  alone,  dark,  empty,  lifeless,  and  deserted, 
through  the  long  and  silent  watches  of  the  night. 
While  the  source  and  mode  of  solar  energy  set 
forth  in  this  work  are  to  he  as  readily  accounted 
for  if  we  accept  as  valid  Laplace's  nebular  hy- 
pothesis as  by  any  other  theory,  yet  such  basis  is 
not  essential  for  its  support ;  for  while  the  planet- 
ary rotations  and  the  central  sun  are  the  necessary 
consequence,  according  to  Laplace's  hypothesis,  of 
their  mode  of  formation, — are,  in  fact,  just  what 
we  actually  find  them  to  be  under  any  hypothesis, — 
electrical  generation  and  transformation  will  pro- 
ceed just  the  same  whether  the  planets  and  sun 
were  formed  originally  in  one  mode  or  in  another. 
But,  since  this  generally  accepted  hypothesis  ac- 
counts for  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  to  a  certain 
extent  at  least,  and  for  a  certain  relatively  brief 
period,  while  no  other  hypothesis  has  been  able  to 
sufficiently  account  for  it  at  all,  and  while  this 
hypothesis  also  finds  both  support  and  contradic- 
tion in  many  observed  phenomena  of  our  solar 
system,  it  may  well  occur  that  this  hypothesis 
itself,  based  upon  the  necessity  of  accounting  for 
the  sun's  light  and  heat,  and  which  latter  afford  it 
its  strongest  basis  of  support,  may,  if  the  basis  upon 
which  the  theory  rests  be  found  to  be  otherwise 
explicable,  still  remain  as  an  end,  while  originally 
presented  only  as  a  means,  and  thus  be  held  as  an 
obstacle  to  the  acceptance  of  the  widely  different 
interpretation  of  known  facts  herein  presented,  in 
the  absence  of  any  other  hypothesis  capable  of  ex- 
plaining the  same  facts  in  accordance  with  this 

23  < 


270      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

presentation  of  planetary  electrical  generation  and 
the  solar  transformation  of  this  energy  into  light 
and  heat.  Herbert  Spencer  mentions  an  instance  of 
such  perversion  of  means  into  an  end  as  occurring 
during  the  agitation  for  the  repeal  of  the  corn 
laws  in  England,  which  extended  over  many  years, 
during  which  organized  efforts  were  made  to  in- 
fluence Parliament.  A  permanent  commission 
was  established,  with  official  head-quarters  perma- 
nently located  in  London,  with  clerks,  secretaries, 
higher  officers,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  first- 
class  establishment.  The  purpose  of  this  institu- 
tion was  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  popular  interests 
upon  Parliament  by  every  available  means  to  se- 
cure this  great  reform.  After  years  of  effort,  he 
says,  a  clerk  one  day  rushed,  breathless,  into  the 
office  from  the  House  of  Commons  and  shouted, 
in  accents  of  despair,  "  We  are  ruined ;  the  bill 
has  passed !" 

The  nebular  hypothesis,  while  generally  accepted 
in  lieu  of  a  better  one,  has  no  actual  primary  basis 
beyond  that  of  mere  assumption.  Of  it  Professor 
Ball  says,  "  The  nebular  theory  .  .  .  seems,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  to  be  almost  incapable  of  re- 
ceiving any  direct  testimony."  We  have  already 
quoted  from  Professor  Newcomb  that  it  must  be 
accepted,  with  all  its  difficulties,  until  a  different 
and  sufficient  explanation  of  solar  energy  shall  be 
presented.  As  set  forth  in  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia, 
the  theory  is  as  follows :  "Assuming,  for  the  sake  of 
the  argument,  a  rare,  homogeneous,  nebulous  matter, 
widely  diffused  through  space,  the  following  sue- 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  271 

cessive  changes  will,  on  physical  principles,  take 
place  in  it :  1,  mutual  gravitation  of  its  atoms ;  2, 
atomic  repulsion;  3,  evolution  of  heat  by  over- 
coming this  repulsion ;  4,  molecular  combination 
at  a  certain  stage  of  condensation;  followed  by,  5, 
sudden  and  great  disengagement  of  heat ;  6,  lower- 
ing of  temperature  by  radiation  and  consequent 
precipitation  of  binary  atoms,  aggregating  into  ir- 
regular flocculi  and  floating  in  the  rarer  medium, 
just  as  water  when  precipitated  from  air  collects 
into  clouds;  7,  each  flocculus  will  move  towards 
the  common  center  of  gravity  of  all ;  but,  being  an 
irregular  mass  in  a  resisting  medium,  this  motion 
will  be  out  of  the  rectilinear, — that  is  to  say,  not 
directly  towards  the  common  center  of  gravity,  but 
towards  one  or  the  other  side  of  it, — and  thus,  8,  a 
spiral  movement  will  ensue,  which  will  be  commu- 
nicated to  the  rarer  medium  through  which  the 
flocculus  is  moving ;  and,  9,  a  preponderating  mo- 
mentum and  rotation  of  the  whole  mass  in  some 
one  direction,  converging  in  spirals  towards  the  com- 
mon center  of  gravity.  Certain  subordinate  ac- 
tions are  to  be  noticed  also.  Mutual  attraction 
will  tend  to  produce  groups  of  flocculi  concen- 
trating around  local  centers  of  gravity  and  ac- 
quiring a  subordinate  vortical  movement.  These 
conclusions  are  shown  to  be  in  entire  harmony 
with  the  observed  phenomena.  In  this  genetic 
process,  when  the  precipitated  matter  is  aggre- 
gating into  flocculi,  there  will  be  found  here  and 
there  detached  portions,  like  shreds  of  cloud  in  a 
summer  sky,  which  will  not  coalesce  with  the 


272     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

larger  internal  masses,  but  will  slowly  follow  with- 
out overtaking  them.  These  fragments  will  as- 
sume characteristics  of  motion  strikingly  corre- 
spondent to  those  of  the  comets,  whose  physical 
constitution  and  distribution  are  seen  to  be  com- 
pletely accordant  with  the  hypothesis."  During 
this  process,  it  is  further  stated,  successive  rings 
of  nebulous  matter  will  be  thrown  off  and  left  be- 
hind, which  are  supposed  to  have  coalesced  into 
planets  and  their  satellites,  and  .the  motion  of  rota- 
tion will  become  more  and  more  rapid  as  condensa- 
tion proceeds,  until,  finally,  the  last  planet,  Mer- 
cury, will  be  left  behind  in  annular  form,  and  the 
sun  will  then  become  the  central  orb  of  all  the 
planets,  and  condensation  afterwards  will  proceed 
without  further  delivery  of  planetary  rings.  Pro- 
fessor Ball  says,  "  If  we  go  sufficiently  far  back,  we 
seem  to  come  to  a  time  when  the  sun,  in  a  more 
or  less  completely  gaseous  state,  filled  up  the  sur- 
rounding space  out  to  the  orbit  of  Mercury,  or, 
earlier  still,  out  to  the  orbit  of  the  remotest 
planet." 

There  is  nothing  in  the  actively  developing  nebula 
illustrated  on  the  following  page  which  shows  the 
slightest  analogy,  either  in  structure  or  the  forces 
at  work,  to  what  is  demanded  by  the  nebular  hy- 
pothesis. On  the  contrary,  these  radiating,  spiral 
convolutions,  springing  from  a  center  and  ex- 
tended, with  interstratified  dark  spaces,  out  to  the 
periphery,  are  entirely  incompatible  with  that 
theory.  There  have  not,  so  far,  been  observed  in 
all  the  heavens  any  gaseous  nebulae  which  lend  the 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 


273 


slightest  support  to  the  nebular  hypothesis.  We 
should  expect  to  find,  if  it  were  true,  that  many  of 
the  nucleated  planetary  nebulae  show  exterior  con- 
centric rings  of  luminous  matter,  clearly  defined, 


Great  spiral  nebula  in  Canes  Venatici.  (See  Fig.  156  of  Guillemin's  "  The 
Heavens.")  The  small  nebula  to  the  right  is  also,  according  to  M.  Chacar- 
nac,  a  spiral,  though  with  the  telescopic  power  used  the  figure  above  does 
not  show  it. 


two,  three,  or  a  dozen  in  number,  left  behind  by  the 
contracting  volume  of  the  nebula,  and  coalescing 
into  planets,  and,  within,  the  glowing  disk  from 
which  new  external  rings  are  about  to  be  left  as  a 
residuum.  On  the  contrary,  these  nebulae  gradually 
fade  away  towards  their  margins,  and  imperceptibly 
disappear  in  the  blackness  of  space.  If  they  ter- 
minated abruptly,  we  might  suppose  that  here,  at 


274      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

least,  was  the  orbit  of  a  newly  forming  planet,  but 
the  regular  and  delicate  gradation  of  luminosity 
from  maximum  to  zero  shows  that  no  such  sudden 
breaking  off  has  occurred.  In  all  these  nebulae  we 
find  every  definitely  marked  structure  to  exhibit 
the  operation  of  combined  forces  of  gravity  and  in- 
ternal repulsion  nearly  equally  balanced,  but  each 
acting  independently  of  the  other.  These  phe- 
nomena are  as  universal  as  the  forces  of  cohesion 
and  repellent  polarity  in  the  "  attraction  particles" 
of  cell-life  which  determine  the  segmentation, 
growth,  and  development  of  the  living  organism. 
We  find  here  the  primal  modification  and  differ- 
entiation of  material  structure  under  the  stress  of 
directly  opposite  and  interacting  primitive  forces, 
and  it  is  doubtless  the  same  whether  in  a  cell  or  a 
system.  It  is  not  a  residuum,  but  the  ins  a  tergo. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  are  many  and  great 
difficulties  involved  in  the  nebular  hypothesis.  As 
for  the  genesis  of  comets,  it  will  be  at  once  seen 
that  the  theory  will  only  account  for  such  comets 
as  never  venture  much  beyond  the  orbit  of  Neptune, 
as  well  as  those  which  have  an  orbital  plane  nearly 
coincident  with  that  of  the  planets.  But  most 
comets  come  from  illimitable  space,  far,  far  beyond 
Neptune's  circle  and  at  all  angles  to  the  plane  of 
the  planetary  orbits ;  and  we  have  already  seen  that 
a  disk  of  space  of  the  diameter  of  Neptune's  orbit 
and  half  as  thick  (see  Proctor's  "  Familiar  Essays") 
would,  to  contain  all  the  matter  of  our  solar  system 
equally  distributed,  have  a  density  of  only  one 
four-hundred-thousandth  that  of  hydrogen  gas  at 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  275 

atmospheric  pressure, — that  is  to  say,  such  a  volume 
of  the  lightest  substance  we  know  of  would  make 
four  hundred  thousand  solar  systems  like  our  own. 
This  author  inquires  if  such  a  mass  could,  under 
any  circumstances,  rotate  as  a  whole,  and  adds, 
"Has  it  ever  occurred,  I  often  wonder,  to  those 
who  glibly  quote  the  nebular  theory  as  originally 
propounded,  to  inquire  how  far  some  of  the  pro- 
cesses suggested  by  Laplace  are  in  accordance  with 
the  now  well-known  laws  of  physics  ?"  But  the 
great  primal  difficulty  is  in  the  first  assumption  of 
the  theory,  which  is  not  only  entirely  gratuitous, 
but  physically  impossible.  It  is  that  this  great 
plasma  of  nebulous  material — in  the  case  of  our  own 
solar  system  not  less  than  six  thousand  million 
miles  in  diameter — should  have  in  someway  become 
aggregated  into  a  homogeneous  mass  of  the  requi- 
site tenuity,  complete  and  perfect,  and  ready  for  the 
succeeding  stages  of  the  process,  in  which,  how- 
ever, the  law  of  gravity  has  hitherto  had  no  active 
operation  whatever ;  for,  if  gravitation  existed  and 
operated  therein,  such  homogeneous  mass  could 
never  have  been  formed,  nor  ever  existed  even  if 
formed.  The  very  forces  which  alone  could  have 
brought  this  vast  mass  together  must  have  been 
the  identical  forces  which  afterwards  broke  it  up 
into  the  sun  and  planets,  and  the  operation  of  the 
same  force  must  have  prevented  its  original  forma- 
tion at  all.  According  to  the  theory,  it  was  like 
a  horse-race,  in  which  all  the  participants  stood 
silent  and  motionless  until  the  judge  cried,  "  Go !" 
But  the  judge  was  the  great  creative  force  itself, 


276     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  if  the  fiat  reached  to  this  extent,  the  same 
power  could  just  as  readily — nay,  far  more  readily 
— have  shot  the  sun  and  planets  forth  into  rotation, 
as  children  scatter  dough-balls,  instead  of  holding 
in  abeyance  the  control  of  universal  law  so  as  to 
(as  a  humorous  writer  speaks  of  the  operations  of 
a  child  in  his  investigation  of  a  watch)  "  see  the 
wheels  go  round."  This  is  not  nature's  plan,  so 
far  as  human  knowledge  goes.  Of  course  these 
masses  gathering  to  this  great  nebulous  center,  if 
acted  upon  by  gravitation,  would  have  at  once 
condensed  around  the  center  as  a  nucleus,  and  if 
rotation  ever  commenced,  it  must  have  commenced 
then,  millions  of  years,  doubtless,  before  the  out- 
lying masses  had  even  got  within  hailing  distance. 
When  masses  of  people  assemble  at  a  camp- 
meeting,  the  first  comers  take  the  best  places, 
and  the  late  arrivals  have  to  circulate  around  in 
the  woods ;  they  do  not  all  gather  in  a  circle  and 
then  make  a  grand  rush.  That  would  be  fair, 
perhaps,  but  it  is  not  nature.  And  this,  unques- 
tionably, is  how,  if  ever  formed  at  all,  these  nebulae 
must  have  been  formed  into  systems. 

The  fact  that  the  orbital  planes  of  very  many  of 
these  asteroids  are  greatly  inclined  to  the  common 
planetary  plane,  and  still  more  greatly  inclined  to 
one  another,  points  almost  unerringly  to  the  existence 
during  their  stage  of  formation  of  some  powerful 
force  either  of  internal  repulsion  or  external  attrac- 
tion. That  no  sufficiently  large  body  could  have 
been  present  to  exercise  such  attraction  so  far  out- 
side the  general  planetary  plane  is  self-evident,  and 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  277 

if  there  had  been  such  source  of  attraction,  while 
the  orbital  planes  of  the  asteroids  might  have  been 
deflected  from  the  common  plane,  they  could  not 
have  been  forced  apart  so  as  to  differ  largely  among 
themselves.  Certainly  nothing  pertaining  to  the 
nebular  hypothesis  could  have  produced  any  such 
effects  under  any  conceivable  circumstances,  and 
especially  at  so  late  a  period  of  its  progress,  after 
all  the  principal  planets  had  been  completed.  The 
only  alternative  is  self-repulsion,  and  this  could 
only  have  been  due  to  the  causes  and  their  mode 
of  operation  already  described  in  this  work.  In 
a  modified  degree  these  planes  exhibit  the  same 
irregular  orbital  deflections  as  are  so  conspicuously 
visible  in  the  orbits  of  comets,  and  they  must 
have  been  unquestionably  produced  in  the  same 
manner.  The  barren  bands  or  stripes  in  the  area 
occupied  by  these  asteroids,  like  the  dark  or  vacant 
rings  of  the  planet  Saturn,  may  have  been  largely 
affected  by  the  perturbing  attraction  of  the  neigh- 
boring planet  Jupiter ;  but  certainly  no  influence 
of  that  great  planet  (himself  in  the  common  plan- 
etary plane)  could  have  operated  to  cast  these 
forming  planetoids  into  planes  of  diverse  inclina- 
tions among  themselves  or  to  that  of  his  own. 
On  the  contrary,  his  whole  force  must  have  been 
exerted  to  bring  them  into  the  closest  harmony 
with  his  own  orbital  movements. 

Omitting  discussion  of  the  technical  difficulties 
in  the  application  of  the  nebular  theory  to  demon- 
strated facts,  which  may  be  found  in  the  books,  we 
may  again  repeat  that  this  theory  is  not  essential  to 

24 


278      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

account  for  the  heat  of  the  sun,  which  finds  its  real 
source  elsewhere,  while,  nevertheless,  the  theory  in 
itself  is  not  incompatible  with  the  views  which  we 
have  endeavored  to  present  and  demonstrate.  Cer- 
tain phenomena,  however,  have  been  considered  in 
prior  quotations  in  this  work  which  may  aid  us  to 
roughly  indicate  the  successive  processes  by  which 
the  evolution  of  solar  systems  and  galaxies  may  be 
explained  on  another  basis  which  requires  no  vio- 
lent assumptions  to  be  made  and  no  suspension  of 
any  of  nature's  universal  laws.  The  same  opera- 
tions which  we  see  around  us  at  the  present  time 
in  our  own  system,  if  extended  to  the  dimensions 
of  a  nebular  aggregation,  would  probably  present 
the  same  phenomena  as  those  we  find  partially 
disclosed  in  the  gaseous  nebulae,  particularly  the 
spiral,  and  these  would  naturally  determine  the 
final  production  of  solar  systems  such  as  our  own. 
The  gaseous  nebulae,  not  spiral,  and  the  mixed 
nebulae  also,  would  fall  into. their  appropriate  cate- 
gories in  the  same  general  plan,  and  a  consistent 
mode  of  formation  would  be  presented  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  different  processes. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  spiral  required  by 
Laplace's  nebular  theory  is  essentially  a  centripetal 
spiral.  The  spiral  nebulae  we  see  in  the  heavens, 
however,  are  centrifugal  spirals.  This  is  clearly 
shown  in  Plates  XV.,  XII. ,  and  the  frontispiece  of 
Nicholas  "  Architecture  of  the  Heavens,"  as  well  as 
in  Plates  XIII.  and  XIV.  Plate  XV.— the  open 
spiral — is  directly  contradictory  of  any  phenomena 
which  could  occur  in  accordance  with  the  nebular 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  279 

theory  of  Laplace.  The  frontispiece  shows  the 
only  form  which  such  a  nebula  could  assume  at 
any  stage  of  its  career, — that  is,  a  close  spiral  with 


Spiral  nebulae,  reduced  from  Nichol,  after  drawings  of  Lord  Rosse.  Fig.  1 
is  from  Plate  XV.,  Fig.  2  from  Plate  XII..  and  Fig.  3  from  frontispiece  of 
Nichol's  "Architecture  of  the  Heavens ;"  Fig.  4  is  from  same  work,  showing 
a  similar  development,  from  a  spiral  nebula,  of  a  solar  system  with  a  double 
star  for  its  central  sun. 


nearly  circular  convolutions.  But  while  this  par- 
ticular form  is  not  only  in  entire  accordance  with 
the  hypothesis  which  we  are  about  to  suggest, 


280     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

being  in  fact  one  of  the  later  and  necessary  stages 
in  its  progress,  any  such  spiral  as  that  shown  in 
Plate  XV.  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  in  the 
application  of  the  nebular  theory  of  Laplace  or  in 
any  of  the  more  recent  modifications  thereof. 

The  only  hypothesis  by  which  the  various  phe- 
nomena can  be  adequately  explained  must  almost 
certainly  be  based  upon  the  combined  action  of 
gravitation  and  electrospheric  repulsion.  We  find 
in  the  corona  of  our  own  sun  such  phenomena 
manifested  in  the  most  striking  degree,  even  in  a 
completed  system,  and  we  can  well  understand 
that  during  the  early  stages  of  systemic  develop- 
ment such  phenomena  would  vastly  transcend  any- 
thing which  we  could  now  hope  to  observe  around 
our  own  sun.  We  see  this  repulsion  still  more 
highly  developed  in  the  formation  of  the  tails  of 
comets.  While  these  coronal  rays  are  not  visible 
to  a  distance  of  more,  perhaps,  than  five  million 
miles  from  the  sun's  disk,  we  have  seen  that  the 
tail  of  Newton's  comet  was  shot  forth  to  a  distance 
of  ninety  million  miles  in  a  few  days,  as  it  were  in 
a  moment,  by  the  tremendous  electrical  repulsion  of 
the  solar  electrosphere,  and  that  this  enormous  tail, 
which,  if  composed  of  hydrogen  gas  alone  (it  was, 
of  course,  enormously  more  attenuated),  would 
have  contained  a  mass  much  more  than  equal  to 
the  weight  of  the  sun,  was  swung  around  over  an  arc 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees,  giving  a  radial 
sweep  of  the  tail  over  a  distance  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty  millions  of  miles  in  less  than  four  days. 
And  the  tails  of  many  other  comets  have  largely 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  .     281 

transcended  in  dimensions  that  of  Newton,  above 
cited.  We  have  learned  much  of  the  laws  which 
regulate  the  development  of  storms,  cyclones, 
whirlwinds,  water- spouts,  and  other  vortical  phe- 
nomena in  the  atmosphere  of  our  own  earth,  and 
can  readily  apply  these  principles  to  phenomena 
of  vastly  greater  magnitude.  We  know  that  the 
matter  of  comets'  tails  is  self-repulsive,  as  shown 
in  multiple  tails,  as  well  as  that  it  is  repelled  by 
an  adjacent  similarly  electrified  electrosphere, — 
that  of  the  sun,  for  example, — as  with  pith-balls 
in  the  familiar  class-room  experiments;  so  that 
we  can  gather  a  very  fair  and  complete  idea  of 
the  processes  of  nature  when  dealing  with  such 
phenomena  on  a  vastly  more  extended  scale,  in 
which  our  moments  are  measured  by  millions  of 
years  and  our  miles  by  the  almost  infinite  distances 
of  sidereal  and  nebular  space. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE   GENESIS   OF   SOLAR   SYSTEMS   AND   GALAXIES. 

THE  processes  of  development  of  a  solar  system 
from  the  diffused  elemental  matter  of  space  may 
then  be  roughly  sketched  as  follows,  premising 
that  each  stage  may  have  possibly  extended  over 
vast  periods  of  time,  and  the  whole,  perhaps,  not 
been  completed  for  millions  of  years.  With  the 
processes  of  creation  time  is  as  nothing. 

The  area  of  space  in  which  a  solar  system  is 
about  to  be  developed  has  hitherto  maintained  its 
molecular  constituents  in  a  state  of  gradually  in- 
creased unstable  equilibrium,  whether  such  aug- 
mented instability  may  have  been  induced  by  a 
gradual  rise  of  temperature  from  emission  of  the 
solar  energy  of  other  galaxies,  by  gradual  diffusion 
from  constantly  operative  centers,  from  currents 
or  vortices  of  space,  or  by  some  primal  inherent 
constitution  of  space  itself,  with  constantly  in- 
creasing tensions  relieved  by  successive  discharges, 
of  which  analogous  instances  are  round  in  various 
other  processes  of  nature,  as,  for  example,  ovula- 
tion,  fission,  and  gemmation  in  the  reproduction  of 
life,  regularly  recurring  epileptiform  convulsions, 
regularly  repeated  spark  discharges  from  electrical 
machines,  or  the  ebullition  of  viscous  fluids  with 
their  slowly  recurring  bursting  bubbles.  At  some 
282 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  283 

focal  point  of  this  area  a  rupture  of  tension  will 
finally  occur,  induced  by  some  sudden  current  or 
vortical  movement,  as  we  see  sometimes  in  a  pool 
of  water  gradually  reduced  in  temperature  below 
the  freezing-point,  when  its  whole  surface,  by  the 
passage  of  a  breath  of  wind  even,  will  be  suddenly 
flashed  into  crystals  of  ice.  At  this  point  of  space 
there  will  be  instituted  a  rapid  expansion  among 
the  molecules  and  a  consequent  fall  of  temperature^ 
followed  by  an  inrush  of  the  vaporous  material 
surrounding  this  center  of  agitation,  and  a  vortical 
movement  will  be  established,  with  currents  of 
spatial  matter  attracted  to  this  vortex  in  constantly 
increasing  streams.  The  molecular  tensions  will 
be  successively  unlocked  as  the  circles  of  agitation 
continue  to  widen,  and  a  condensed  nucleus  will 
form,  rotating  upon  its  axis  and  exhibiting  the  com- 
bined phenomena  of  gravity  and  centrifugal  force. 
As  the  nucleus  continues  to  increase  in  mass  and 
density  its  temperature  will  constantly  rise,  while 
its  speed  of  rotation  will  gradually  diminish  as  its  . 
volume  increases,  and  the  aqueous  vapors  of  space, 
as  they  gather  around  this  rotating  center  of  attrac- 
tion, will  be  forced  outward  by  centrifugal  action* 
and  the  heat  of  the  nucleus,  and  form  vast  attenu- 
ated clouds, — not  necessarily  visible,  however,  to 
human  sight, — and  these  clouds,  in  their  various 
stratifications  and  disturbances,  will  gradually  come 
to  partake  of  the  rotatory  movement  of  the  center, 
such  movements,  however,  gradually  fading  away 
as  they  recede  in  space  and  in  density.  The 
cyclonic  movements  of  these  clouds  of  aqueous 


284      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

vapor  upon  themselves,  but  principally  against  the 
surrounding  gases  of  space  still  under  tension,  will 
generate  enormous  quantities  of  electricity,  which 
flash  like  thunder-clouds  as  they  approach  each 
other,  with  incessant  streams  of  lightning  and  rolls 
of  thunder.  The  growing  and  heating  central 
nucleus  is  thus  thrown  into  a  state  of  high  elec- 
trical opposite  polarity,  and  its  own  constituent 
elements  become  self- repellent,  just  as  we  see  in 
the  sun's  corona  and  in  the  phenomena  of  comets. 
The  electrical  tension  of  the  central  mass  will 
gradually  grow  higher  and  higher,  until  a  vast 
stream  or  streams  of  incandescent  nebulous  mat- 
ter (for  with  double  suns  they  may  be  multiple,  or 
the  internal  repulsion  may  even  cause  division  of 
the  nucleus  itself)  will  be  suddenly  driven  outward 
in  a  radial  direction  along  the  lines  of  least  resist- 
ance,— that  is  to  say,  in  the  plane  of  equatorial 
rotation,  where  centrifugal  force  is  most  effective. 
We  can  readily  understand  the  self-repellent  force 
of  such  an  enormous  mass  of  cosmical  matter  by 
considering  that,  in  our  own  completed  system,  the 
repulsion  of  the  solar  electrosphere  drove  forth  the 
tail  of  Newton's  comet,  as  before  stated,  to  a  distance 
of  ninety  million  miles,  and  whirled  it  around  a 
semicircle  of  this  radius  in  less  than  four  days. 
Our  most  distant  planet,  Neptune,  is  only  thirty 
times  this  distance  from  the  sun,  and  we  see  during 
every  solar  eclipse  the  coronal  structure  glowing  to 
a  distance  of  more  than  a  million  miles  from  the 
sun's  disk,  and  the  radial  streamers  driven  forth 
five  million  miles,  and  even  farther.  (See  illus- 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS,  285 

trations  of  solar  corona  in  Guillemin's  "The 
Heavens.")  The  vast  stream  of  radiating  nebulous 
matter  thus  forced  out  by  solar  repulsion  will  like- 
wise be  acted  upon  with  equal  energy  by  its  own  in- 
ternal self-repellent  force.  If  we  conceive  a  stream 
of  water  thrown  vertically  upward  by  a  powerful 
force-pump,  in  which  every  drop  of  the  fluid  is 
endowed  with  tremendous  self-repulsive  energy, 
we  should  find  an  analogy  to  the  phenomenon  in 
question.  We  can  see  an  example  of  this  in  the 
"  Crab  Nebula,"  illustrated  in  a  previous  chapter. 
The  stream,  acted  upon  by  gravity  downward,  by 
the  force  of  ejection  upward,  and  by  the  internal 
force  of  repulsion  both  transversely  and  upward, 
would  assume  a  pyriform  shape,  narrower  beneath, 
largely  swollen  about  its  middle,  and  thence  grad- 
ually decreasing  in  diameter  to  its  termination  in 
a  rounded  tuft,  in  advance  of  which  would  be 
driven  forth  detached  sprays  and  wisps,  while  fila- 
ments and  outlying  parallel  strands  would  mark 
its  entire  ascent,  except  towards  its  point  of  ejec- 
tion, where  the  primal  force  which  drove  it  out  is 
greatly  in  excess  of  those  of  gravity  and  self-repul- 
sion. It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  these  phe- 
nomena are  precisely  those  which  we  observe  in  a 
comet's  tail.  (See  illustrations  of  many  comets 
having  these  characteristics  in  Guillemin's  "  The 
Heavens,"  Lockyer's  edition.) 

Suppose,  now,  that  this  stream  of  water  or  the  tail 
of  a  large  comet  were  gradually  wrapped  around 
its  point  of  emission  by  the  rotation  of  this  nucleus 
upon  its  axis.  A  spiral  would  form,  very  open  or 


286      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

flaring  at  first,  but  gradually  growing  closer  and 
more  circular  as  the  force  of  gravity  drew  its  con- 
volutions downward  upon  the  interstratified  clouds 
of  aqueous  vapor  occupying,  in  compressed  layers, 
the  spaces  between  the  adjacent  coils  of  the  spiral. 
There  would  be  a  composite  action  of  forces  ob- 
served :  gravity  would  attract  the  convolutions  and 
their  interstratified  layers  of  cloud  equally,  accord- 
ing to  their  densities,  while  the  central  repulsive 
force  would  repel  the  convolutions  of  the  spiral 
along  the  same  lines  of  force,  but  would  not  act  at 
all  upon  the  strata  of  clouds,  and  the  force  of  in- 
ternal self-repulsion  would  also  tend  to  disrupt  the 
convolutions  of  the  spiral  by  expanding  them  out- 
wardly. The  outer  convolution,  however,  would 
have  no  backward  thrust  from  any  internal  repulsion 
beyond,  while,  within,  gravity  and  solar  repulsion 
would  be  more  equally  balanced,  so  that  the  outer 
coil  would  be  relatively  compressed  in  its  rotation 
against  the  next  inner  convolution,  and  its  ratio 
of  distance  would  not  be  maintained.  We  find 
this  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Neptune's,  orbit  in 
our  own  system.  The  inner  convolution  would 
also  be  abnormal,  since  the  primal  force  of  ejec- 
tion must  have  been  sufficient  to  carry  the  out- 
ward thrust  of  the  whole  spiral,  and  in  consequence 
its  flare  would  offer  much  greater  resistance  to  the 
deflection  of  rotation,  and  it  would  have  a  more 
radial  direction  than  those  beyond.  We  shall  find 
that  the  planet  Mercury,  and  the  inner  convolution 
which  was  eventually  reabsorbed  into  the  solar 
mass,  exhibit  these  phenomena.  Between  the 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOL'AR  SYSTEMS.  287 

outer  and  these  inner  convolutions  the  curve  of 
the  spiral  would  be  approximately  regular,  with  a 
fixed  ratio  of  increase.  In  the  planets  of  our  solar 
system  this  ratio  is  that  produced  by  constantly 
doubling  the  preceding  number,  the  series  being 
0,  3,  6,  12,  24,  etc.  In  other  solar  systems,  how- 
ever, the  ratio  may  be  quite  different.  In  this 
abnormal  flare  of  the  inner  convolution  is  doubt- 
less to  be  found  the  rational  basis  of  Bode's  em- 
pirical law  .of  planetary  distances,  in  which  the 
arbitrary  number  4  must  be  added  to  each  term 
of  the  above  progression,  making  the  series  4,  7, 
10,  16,  28,  etc.  The  inner  coil  between  Mercury 
and  the  sun  was  drawn  into  the  solar  mass  on  the 
disruption  of  the  spiral,  leaving,  from  the  abnor- 
mally radial  curvature  of  the  inner  portions  of  the 
spiral  and  its  absence  from  the  series,  a  vacant 
place  which  must  be  represented  by  the  relatively 
fixed  increment  to  be  added  to  each  term  of  the 
series. 

As  the  convolutions  of  the  spiral  become  more  and 
more  compressed  towards  each  other  and  more  and 
more  flattened  against  the  interstratified  cloud- 
layers,  the  force  of  internal  repulsion  becomes  more 
and  more  active  in  its  tendency  to  disrupt  the  spiral, 
since  its  forces  are  more  direct  and  concentrated 
along  lines  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  force  of 
gravity.  During  the  formation  of  the  spiral  we 
can  easily  conceive  that — like  a  stream  of  water 
shooting  over  a  cascade,  or  the  multiple  tails  of 
some  comets,  or  even  a  whole  comet,  as,  for  exam- 
ple, Biela's,  which  was  split  up  into  two  separate 


288      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

bodies  by  this  force — some  convolution,  perhaps  a 
single  one  of  the  series,  will  be  laterally  divided 
into  a  large  number  of  nearly  parallel  strands, 
mutually  held  apart  by  their  internal  self-repulsion, 
and  with  cloud-layers  interposed  between  these 
lateral  strands.  Such  a  series  of  small  planets  as 


Nebula  in  Canes  Venatici,  showing  central  nucleus  and  external  ring  split 
and  held  apart  by  electrical  self-repulsion.  (From  Helmholtz's  "Popular 
Lectures.") 


these  would  finally  produce  we  find  in  the  belt  of 
our  asteroids,  the  bulk  of  the  convolution,  proba- 
bly, for  the  most  part,  however,  scattered  in  space, 
since  their  aggregate  mass  is  so  small,  and  possi- 
bly, in  part,  coalesced  into  the  mass  of  Jupiter,  to 
which  Mars,  by  his  position,  may  also  have  con- 
tributed. 

Not  only  may  a  whole  convolution  be  thus  split 
up,  but  along  the  spiral  at  many  points  the  outer 
margins  may  be  thrust  outward,  forming  partially 
detached  parallel  strands,  which  may  thus  coalesce 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  289 

to  form  the  satellites  of  the  completed  planets; 
while  at  the  outer  extremity  of  all,  where  the  back- 
ward thrust  of  self-repulsion  is  wanting,  enormous 
wisps,  sprays,  and  tufts  of  nebulous  matter  would 
be  driven  entirely  forth  into  the  illimitable  realms 
of  outer  space,  but  not  necessarily,  or  even  prob- 
bly,  into  the  space  of  other  systems,  which  are  so 
enormously  distant ;  and  there,  in  those  unoccupied 
realms,  they  will  remain  to  gyrate  "  in  the  solitude 
of  their  own  originality,"  in  the  form  of  comets, 
until,  at  long  intervals,  they  may  chance  to  revisit 
the  scenes  of  their  earliest  youth,  to  warm  their 
frozen  limbs  for  a  brief  period  at  the  old  and  well- 
remembered  parental  fire,  or  finally,  worn  out  with 
toil  and  travel,  "  come  home  at  last  to  die." 

Driven  forth  from  the  society  of  their  fellows  by 
their  own  unbalanced  energies,  these  anarchists  of 
the  sky  may  form  loose  aggregations,  granulated 
about  multitudes  of  self-constituted  minor  centers ; 
but,  cut  loose  from  all  effective  solar  control  dur- 
ing their  period  of  coalescence,  they  must  forever 
lack  the  consolidated  form  and  complex  organiza- 
tion of  their  prosperous  and  rotund  brethren,  the 
planets  and  their  satellites,  or  even  the  tiny  aste- 
roids, who  stayed  home  and,  like  the  little  pig,  had 
bread  and  butter  for  breakfast. 

The  disruptive  energy  of  internal  repulsion,  as 
above  stated,  increases  in  force  as  the  convolutions 
of  the  spiral  become  more  and  more  compressed 
and  the  spiral  becomes  more  an.d  more  circular  in 
form.  Suddenly  the  coils  of  the  spiral  will  be; 
burst  asunder,  and  this  will  occur  along  that  par- 
N  t  25 


290      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ticular  radial  line  of  gravitation  where  the  central 
nucleus  acts  with  its  most  effective  force.  The 
disruption  will  be  simultaneous,  as  a  general  rule, 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  which  control 
ruptures  of  tension  of  bodies  in  a  state  of  unstable 
equilibrium,  and  which  we  see  exemplified  in 
multiplied  centers  of  crystallization,  the  simulta- 
neous formation  of  rnud-cracks,  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way, and  other  like  phenomena.  Each  convolution 
will  now  become  a  detached  open  ring,  one  of 
its  broken  extremities,  however,  being  millions 
of  miles  farther  from  the  central  nucleus  than 
the  other.  What  occurs  when  a  cometic  body, 
negatively  electrified,  impinges  upon  the  positive 
electrosphere  of  a  planet,  or  when  an  electrical 
induction  machine  like  Voss's  is  touched  by  an 
oppositely  electrified  body,  will  now  necessarily 
occur  with  these  disrupted  convolutions.  Their 
connection  with  the  negatively  electrified  nucleus 
being  broken,  a  reversal  of  electrical  polarity  will 
ensue  from  contact  with  the  adjacent  positively 
electrified  clouds  of  aqueous  vapor,  and,  instead  of 
self-repulsion,  mutual  attraction  will  now  prevail 
along  the  length  of  each  of  the  open  rings.  Held 
apart  from  the  central  nucleus  by  the  interstratified 
cloud-layers,  and  acted  upon  by  the  double  force 
of  gravity  and  internal  attraction,  the  component 
elements  of  these  open  rings  will  rapidly  lose  their 
luminosity  and  heat,  and  coalesce  by  a  retrograde 
movement  down  the  lines  of  their  direction,  thus 
approaching  the  sun  along  the  segment  of  an  ellipse, 
the  nucleus,  or  sun,  occupying  one  of  the  foci,  the 


THE   GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  291 

eccentricity  of  the  ellipse  being  measured  by  the 
differential  between  the  nearest  point  of  the  open 
ring  and  the  part  of  the  convolution  which  lies 
directly  opposite  and  beyond  the  sun.  In  other 
words,  the  form  of  the  spiral  will  determine  the 
eccentricity  of  the  ellipse,  subject  to  perturbations, 
however,  of  various  sorts.  During  this  stage  of 
coalescence  from  an  open  ring  into  a  sphere,  these 
bodies  will  take  on,  by  cooling  and  condensation, 
their  planetary  forms ;  and  as  the  forming  spheres, 
by  the  retreat  of  their  masses  down  the  lines  of 
approach  to  the  sun,  advance,  their  forward  and 
nearer  extremities  will  be  more  powerfully  acted 
upon  by  gravity  than  those  parts  in  the  rear,  and  a 
forward  plunge  or  axial  movement  of  rotation  will 
be  set  up.  Viscous  matter, — pitch,  for  example, — 
molten  by  the  sun's  heat  and  flowing  down  a  steep 
roof,  exhibits  a  similar  forward  movement,  the 
outer  layers  tending  to  roll  over  the  inner  ones  in 
convoluted  folds,  the  adhesion  to  the  roof  of  the 
under  surface  corresponding  to  the  retarding  pull 
of  the  sun's  attraction.  In  like  manner  are  pro- 
duced rotating  eddies  in  streams  of  water  having 
crooked  channels,  eddies  of  air  under  water-falls, 
and  other  analogous  atmospheric  disturbances. 
During  the  stage  of  coalescence  of  the  planetary 
spheres  the  adjacent  clouds  of  aqueous  vapor  will 
condense  around  them,  and  their  hitherto  diffused 
electrical  energies  will  be  concentrated  by  rotation 
in  curents  of  enormous  quantity  and  potential  di- 
rectly upon  the  sun,  and  a  disassociation  of  the 
elements  which  compose  these  watery  vapors  will 


292      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ensue,  the  result  of  which  will  be  the  deposit  of  hy- 
drogen gas  as  an  atmospheric  envelope  around  the 
sun's  body,  and  of  oxygen  around  and  through  the 
bodies  which  constitute  the  planets.  These  gases 
will  be  disassociated  in  their  combining  proportions, 
two  volumes  of  hydrogen  at  the  sun  for  one  volume 
of  oxygen,  distributed  according  to  their  relative 
electrical  energies  among  the  planets.  This  nascent 
oxygen  will  rapidly  combine  with  the  consolidating 
elements  of  the  planets  and,  interpenetrating  their 
solidifying  bodies,  form  the  vast  mass  of  oxides 
which  we  find  to  constitute  the  bulk  of  our  ter- 
restrial mass,  the  residue,  mechanically  commingled 
with  the  condensed  ever-present  nitrogen,  forming 
the  planetary  atmospheres.  The  condensation  of 
volume  of  the  planets  will  give  rise  to  great  eleva- 
tion of  temperature,  while  their  currents  of  elec- 
tricity, poured  into  the  sun,  will,  by  their  passage 
through  its  enormously  compressed  hydrogen  at- 
mosphere, produce  intense  heat,  and  this,  rapidly 
communicated  to  the  solar  core  within,  will  raise 
its  temperature  to  that  of  the  sun  as  we  now 
see  it,  and  permanently  maintain  it  in  that  state 
of  incandescence. 

During  the  stage  of  coalescence  of  the  planetary 
bodies,  outlying  strands  of  the  spiral  will  follow 
the  course  of  their  adjacent  masses  in  a  nearly 
parallel  movement,  and  will  gradually  coalesce  into 
smaller  bodies  more  directly  under  the  influence 
of  the  gravity  of  their  own  adjacent  planets,  by 
their  proximity,  than  of  that  of  the  sun.  These 
bodies  will  thus  rotate  as  satellites  around  their 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  293 

planets,  and  the  forward  shift  of  their  centers  of 
gravity,  by  their  advance  along  their  lines  of  coa- 
lescence, may  result  in  a  permanent  displacement, 
of  which  we  see  an  example  in  the  moon,  which 
constantly  presents  the  same  face  to  the  earth, 
while  having  an  axial  rotation  of  its  own  with 
reference  to  the  sun.  (In  this  case  the  action  of 
gravity  may  have  been  assisted,  however,  by  the 
mutual  repulsion  of  the  lunar  and  terrestrial  elec- 
trospheres  forcing  the  atmosphere  and  moisture  of 
the  lunar  mass  to  its  opposite  side  and  maintaining 
it  there,  where  it  would  remain  as  a  buffer  against 
rotation.)  In  some  cases  we  might  find  certain 
outlying  strands  of  a  convolution  which,  perturbed 
by  external  influences,  may  have  been  delayed  in 
its  conversion  into  spherical  form,  and  this  sub- 
ordinate strand,  pyriform  itself,  as  it  must  have 
been,  in  shape,  would  thus  form  a  spiral  of  minute 
discrete  bodies,  probably  like  the  nucleus  of  a 
comet,  finally  assuming  the  shape  of  a  series  of 
rings,  and  rotating  like  a  satellite  around  the  neigh- 
boring planet,  the  inner  and  outer  strands  more 
attenuated  and  the  middle  ones  more  condensed, 
as  we  find  to  be  the  case  with  the  rings  of  Saturn. 
In  the  original  spiral  we  have  seen  that,  as  a 
whole,  it  was  of  necessity  pyriform  in  shape.  The 
planets  formed  therefrom  would  thus  be  found  to 
increase  in  size  from  within  outward  to  a  maxi- 
mum, after  which  they  would  again  decrease,  but 
not  to  the  original  minimum,  while  the  extreme 
outer  planet  would  also  be  unduly  enlarged  by 
increment  from  partially  dissipated  terminal  fila- 

25* 


294      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

ments,  gradually  attracted  thereto  from  surround- 
ing space.  •  There  is  such  an  undue  enlargement 
of  the  planet  Neptune,  and  this,  with  its  relatively 
compressed  orbit,  before  alluded  to,  renders  it 
almost  certain  that  Neptune  is  in  reality  the  outer- 
most member  of  our  planetary  system.  We  find 
this  gradation  of  size  to  be  the  case  in  our  solar 
system,  except  where  the  series  has  been  broken 
by  the  multitudinous  separation,  from  violent  in- 
ternal repulsion,  of  one  of  the  convolutions  into 
parallel  strands  showing  all  sorts  of  perturbations, 
this  being  the  convolution  which  occupied  the  re- 
gion between  the  orbits  of  Mars  and  Jupiter,  and 
which,  by  the  coalescence  of  these  numerous  par- 
allel strands  into  small  planetary  bodies,  has  filled 
the  space  with  a  belt  of  asteroids  hundreds  and 
perhaps  thousands  or  even  tens  of  thousands  in 
number.  It  is  probable  that  a  law  regulating  the 
ellipticity  of  planetary  orbits  can  be  deduced  from 
a  consideration  of  the  principles  which  have  gov- 
erned their  inception,  and  with  these  are  doubtless 
closely  related  those  laws  of  Laplace  which  have 
demonstrated  that  "  in  any  system  of  bodies  travel- 
ling in  one  direction  around  a  central  attracting 
orb,  the  eccentricities  and  inclinations,  if  small  at 
any  one  time,  would  always  continue  inconsider- 
able." (Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  article  "  Planet.") 
We  have  thus  traced  the  genesis  of  a  solar  sys- 
tem from  its  earliest  stages  forward  through  its 
various  changes  until,  complete  and  in  working 
order,  it  is  ready  to  be  sent  on  its  eternal  course, 
either  alone  or  as  one  of  a  vast  congeries  of  similar 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  295 

systems,  like  the  Milky  Way.  (See  frontispiece 
for  illustration  of  a  series  of  types  of  development 
from  a  straight-tailed  comet,  through  different 
curvatures,  and  spiral  nebulae  of  less  and  less 
divergence,  until  nearly  circular,  and  finally  termi- 
nating in  a  complete  solar  system.)  These  pro- 
cesses of  creation  may  be  isolated,  or  they  may 
flash  a  hundred  million  solar  systems  into  being 
together,  as  crystals  flash  forth  in  the  rock ;  but, 
when  once  formed,  they  go  forth  each  as  eternal  as 
space  itself. 

But  can  we  not  go  back  one  step  farther  still  in 
the  progressive  stages  of  creative  energy  ?  Whence 
came  these  powerful  agencies  by  means  of  which 
all  those  distant  regions  became  peopled  with  suns 
and  worlds?  The  great  source  of  all  is  to  be 
found  alone  in  space, — the  so-called  "  empty  space." 
But  it  is  far  from  empty ;  all  through  it  are  dif- 
fused the  attenuated  vapors  which,  condensed, 
constitute  our  suns  and  planets,  and  all  that  is,  or 
ever  shall  be,  gaseous  vapors,  which  are  held  poised, 
with  their  opposite  tensions  of  cohesion  and  ex- 
pansion, like  the  Prince  Rupert  drops  which  glass- 
blowers  make  for  toys, — a  little  bulb  of  glass, 
chilled  as  it  falls,  molten,  in  a  vessel  of  water. 
From  one  extremity  projects  a  long,  crooked  stem, 
scarcely  thicker  at  the  end  than  a  horse-hair,  spun 
out  from  the  molten  glass  as  it  hung  from  the 
glass-blower's  rod.  The  bulbous  body  is  as  large, 
perhaps,  as  a  nut ;  you  can  beat  it  with  a  hammer 
and  it  will  not  break ;  it  is  the  hardest  in  structure 
of  all  glass.  Now,  wrap  this  bulb  up  in  a  thick 


296      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

handkerchief,  or  you  may  be  injured;  hold  it 
firmly,  and  break  oft'  the  very  tiniest  tip  of  the 
long  stem  three,  four,  or  even  six  inches  from  the 
bulb.  There  is  a  sudden  shock ;  open  your  hand- 
kerchief, and  lo  !  instead  of  the  solid  bulb,  there  is 
only  a  loose  mass  of  white  powder.  If  you  put  the 
bulb  in  a  heavy  glass  vessel  full  of  water  and  break 
off  the  tip  of  the  tail,  it  will  shatter  the  vessel  into 
fragments.  What  is  the  explanation  ? — it  is,  of 
course,  well  known — simply  that  the  molecules  of 
glass  were  instantly  arrested  in  their  motion  of 
adjustment  as  the  glass  was  suddenly  chilled  by 
the  water,  and  the  molecular  motion  of  shrinkage 
was  arrested,  leaving  the  individual  molecules 
under  a  tremendous  strain  of  position  in  their  en- 
deavor to  reach  their  true  places.  They  are  rigidly 
fixed  in  this  position  of  unstable  equilibrium,  one 
balancing  the  other ;  but  let  a  single  molecule  be 
displaced, — a  fragment  so  tiny  that  the  eye  can 
scarcely  see  it, — and  the  molecules,  thus  thrown 
out  of  mutual  support  against  each  other,  must 
now  rearrange  themselves  from  the  ruptured  rigid 
mass,  and,  like  a  row  of  stood-up  bricks,  each  of 
which  thrusts  the  other  forward,  with  a  sudden 
explosive  force  the  molecules  assume  their  true 
position  of  stable  equilibrium,  but  it  is  at  the  cost 
of  the  whole  structure.  To  this  same  cause  we 
owe  the  explosive  force  of  our  gunpowder,  nitro- 
glycerin,  and  all  explosives ;  the  molecules  are  held 
in  unstable  equilibrium,  and  the  tension  once  re- 
lieved at  a  single  point,  be  it  ever  so  infinitesimal, 
the  molecules  of  the  whole  mass  rearrange  them- 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  297 

selves  with  explosive  energy.  Strange  that  so 
harmless  a  substance  as  glycerin,  by  the  mere  re- 
placement of  an  atom  of  nitrogen  gas,  should 
develop  the  energy  of  dynamite  under  a  trifling 
molecular  shock. 

So,  also,  the  aqueous  and  perhaps  other  vapors 
of  all  space,  attenuated  though  they  be,  and  per- 
haps by  reason  of  this  very  tenuity  itself,  as  shown 
by  the  experiments  of  Professor  Crookes  with  at- 
tenuated gases  when  acted  upon  by  electricity, 
are  held  in  the  same  state  of  unstable  equilibrium. 
We  know  the  potency  of  this  instability  from  the 
terrific  explosive  combination  of  the  gases  which 
combine  to  form  aqueous  vapor.  We  may  again 
refer  to  one  of  the  well-known  experiments  of 
Professor  Crookes  with  simple  atmospheric  air. 
Enclosed  in  a  cylindrical  glass  vessel,  the  electric 
spark  passed  freely;  as  it  became  more  rarefied 
under  an  air-pump,  new  phenomena  appeared, 
until,  at  a  stage  of  high  rarefaction,  the  molecules 
of  these  gases  were  driven  forward  by  the  electric 
current  with  such  energy  as  first  to  raise  the  tem- 
perature of  the  opposite  side  of  the  cylinder  to  a 
red  heat,  then  to  melt,  and  finally  to  perforate  the 
glass.  The  explanation  is  that  the  movements  of 
closely  aggregated  molecules  mutually  interfere 
with  each  other;  as  they  gain  elbow-room  by 
being  reduced  in  number,  they  act  with  more  di- 
rectness, and  consequently  with  more  force :  it  is 
the  difference  between  men  fighting  in  a  crowded 
room  and  out  in  an  open  field.  It  is  possible  that 
these  molecular  tensions  of  space,  by  the  ready  un- 


298      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

locking  of  the  forces  with  which  they  are  charged, 
may  even  aid  in  the  rotation  of  the  planets  by  act- 
ing upon  their  electrospheres  in  their  drift  through 
space,  as  charged  thunder-clouds  react  upon  each 
other,  or  the  molecules  of  atmospheric  air,  in  mod- 
erately high  vacua,  under  electrical  excitement,  act 
upon  the  walls  of  the  containing  vessel,  as  in  the 
experiments  of  Professor  Crookes  and  others.  The 
riddles  of  nature  are  like  those  of  the  sphinx, — they 
have  more  than  one  meaning. 

The  tensions  of  the  aggregated  molecules  of 
space  are  thus  counterbalanced  only  so  long  as  all 
space  is  equally  occupied  and  a  state  of  perfect  qui- 
escence exists  in  its  every  part.  A  molecular  dis- 
turbance in  one  part  is  immediately  communicated 
to  adjacent  parts,  and  finally  to  all.  With  the  first 
movement,  gravity  asserts  itself,  for  gravity  exists 
and  must  exist  in  all  parts,  and  must  actively 
manifest  itself  whenever  the  perfect  mutual  balance 
of  space  is  disturbed  and  a  center  of  energy  de- 
veloped, and  co-ordinately  with  the  action  of  grav- 
ity begins  that  of  electricity.  Movements  among 
the  molecules  are  converted  into  movement  of 
mass ;  centripetal  motion  begets  condensation,  this 
begets  sensible  heat  and  vortical  movement ;  then 
come  the  phenomena  of  electrical  generation  by 
moving  contact  with  the  gases  of  space,  then  re- 
pulsion and  disassociation  of  the  elements  of  the 
aqueous  vapors,  combination  of  simple  into  com- 
pound elements  ;  and,  the  balance  once  disturbed, 
the  state  of  unstable  equilibrium  is  forever  de- 
stroyed, and  all  space  henceforth  must  exhibit  con- 


THE   GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.          299 

stant  change.  There  are  whole  segments  of  space 
absolutely  blank,  so  far  as  visible  systems  are  con- 
cerned, which  seem  to  have  been  exhausted,  for 
the  present  seons  at  least,  to  supply  material  for 
the  vast  adjacent  galaxies  which  extend  along 
their  borders;  see  illustrations  in  Proctor's  "Es- 
sajs  on  Astronomy,"  article  "  Distribution  of  the 
Nebulae." 

It  need  not  be  supposed  that  such  stage  of  per- 
fect and  universal  quiescence  ever  existed  in  fact ; 
it  is  like  the  Nirvana  of  the  Buddhist  philosophers, 
— a  subjective  and  not  an  objective  condition.  We 
can  have  no  knowledge  of  the  existence,  even,  of 
material  things,  save  from  their  phenomena,  the 
manifestation  of  interchanging  forces,  upon  which 
rests  our  threefold  basis  of  knowledge,  perception, 
cognition,  and  comparison.  We  know  nothing  of 
matter,  except  as  aifected  by  internal  or  external 
force,  nor  of  force  itself,  except  as  it  acts  in  one 
mode  or  another  upon  matter.  All  beyond  this 
is,  for  us,  without  form  and  void. 

Progressive  change  has  always,  doubtless,  been 
the  universal  law  of  creation,  and  the  great  ocean 
of  space  is,  and  ever  has  been,  and  ever  will  be  the 
highway  through  which  perpetually  plough  the 
great  caravels  which  bear  the  fortunes  of  creative 
energy,  laden  with  life  and  light  and  heat,  in  their 
eternal  progression.  The  creative  impulse  once 
given,  if  it,  too,  was  not  primeval  in  the  eternal 
past,  must  have  gone  on  from  development  to  de- 
velopment, like  the  transmission  of  life,  from  age  to 
age  and  from  realm  to  realm.  "  The  mills  of  the 


300      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

gods  grind  slowly;"  in  these  vast  areas  time  is  ab- 
solutely nothing;  the  processes  we  see  are  but  as 
the  dip  of  a  swallow's  wing  compared  with  an  in- 
conceivable futurity ;  but  all  our  energies,  and  all 
the  energies  of  planets  and  suns  and  systems  and 
galaxies,  and  of  whatever  other  and  wider  created 
forms  may  stretch  onward  to  infinity,  came  forth 
from  the  ocean  of  space,  and  to  this  ocean  all  these 
energies  continue  to  return  again  in  ceaseless  cir- 
cuit. 

Can  we  indicate  any  relationship  of  periodicity 
for  the  genesis  of  solar  systems  from  space  ?  There 
is  a  remarkable  example  of  a  somewhat  similar 
periodicity  in  organic  life  for  the  rupture  of  ten- 
sions, so  common  that  its  analogous  character  and 
perfect  regularity  are  scarcely  even  thought  of. 
Among  the  highest  species  of  mammalia  we  find 
that,  in  a  state  of  health,  whether  resident  of  the 
heights  of  the  Andes,  the  deserts  of  Africa,  the 
jungles  of  India,  or  the  most  densely  populated 
centers  of  London ;  among  rich  or  poor,  high  or 
low,  idle  or  industrious,  virtuous  or  vicious,  ancient 
or  modern,  civilized  or  barbarous,  black,  white, 
red,  or  yellow,  the  ovum  of  the  mature  female 
rises  to  the  surface  of  the  ovary,  and  at  intervals, 
almost  uniform,  of  twenty-eight  days,  organic  ex- 
citement ensues,  the  enclosing  vesicle  is  ruptured, 
and  the  ovum  escapes.  The  remarkable  feature 
is  not  that  these  processes  continuously  succeed 
each  other ;  but  that  under  such  diverse  conditions 
and  opposite  circumstances,  and  with  two  separate 
ovaries  operating  at  the  same  time,  simultaneously 


THE   GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  301 

or  successively,  this  almost  miraculous  interval 
of  no  more  and  no  less  than  twenty-eight  days 
between  the  successive  ruptures  of  tension  and 
their  attendant  phenomena,  should  constantly  per- 
sist. For  its  ultimate  cause  we  must  look  back  to 
the  vis  a  tergo  to  which  we  have  already  alluded ; 
and  there  may  be,  and  doubtless  is,  a  similarly 
acting  remote  cause  which  regulates  the  period- 
ical development  of  solar  systems  or  of  galaxies, 
periods  of  intense  activity,  followed  by  intervals 
of  exhaustion  and  recuperation,  and  again  suc- 
ceeded by  another  period  of  activity,  and  so  on 
perpetually,  for  space  is  perpetual,  infinite,  and 
inexhaustible. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  processes  above 
roughly  sketched  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  ob- 
served in  the  formation  of  so-called  water-spouts, 
which  usually  terminate  in  dissipation  in  the  atmos- 
phere, or  else  in  terrific  thunder-storms,  but  which 
occasionally  reach  a  sufficient  energy  of  rotation  to 
spin  their  central  nuclei  down  towards,  or  even  to, 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  or,  in  desert  regions,  to  that 
of  the  ground.  There  is  no  analogy  with  the  theo- 
retical and  "  assumed"  primal  mass  of  attenuated 
plasma  of  the  nebular  theory,  or  with  its  slow  initial 
rotation,  with  the  successive  casting  off  of  rings  of 
nebulous  matter.  It  may  sometimes  happen,  how- 
ever, that  the  repulsive  electrical  energy  of  the 
central  nucleus  may  throw  off  its  external  en- 
velopes with  sufficient  force  to  drive  them  entirely 
beyond  the  effective  limit  of  its  attractive  forces, 
as  occurs  in  the  formation  of  embryonic  comets  as 

26 


302      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

above  described ;  in  such  case  the  nebula  will  be 
a  variable  one,  with  successively  repeated  aggre- 
gations and  successive  outbursts,  periodical  like 
the  active  stages  of  volcanoes ;  and,  even  when  the 
nucleus  has  already  presented  a  continuous  solar 
spectrum,  its  energies  may  be  thus  expended,  or 
more  gradually,  and  finally  dissipated  like  the  elec- 
tricity of  a  highly  charged  Leyden  jar  exposed  to 
a  moist  atmosphere. 

As  a  bottle  of  strongly  effervescing  liquid  may 
blow  itself  empty,  when  suddenly  opened,  by  the 
mutually  repellent  energy  of  its  contained  mole- 
cules, so  if  such  a  phenomenon  were  manifested 
in  a  radial  direction  from  a  central  point,  the  re- 
pelled spray  would  show  itself  as  a  nebulous  ring 
with  a  hollow  center.  An  example  of  this  sort  is 
shown  in  the  multiple-tailed  "  Catherine-wheel" 
nebula  (Fig.  4  of  a  previous  illustration).  If  such 
an  annular  nebula  should  become  ruptured  into 
two  portions  by  internal  repulsion,  the  electrical 
polarity  of  the  smaller  fragment  would  be  reversed, 
and  the  two  arcs  would  separately  coalesce  and 
consolidate  into  a  sun  and  a  single  planet,  form- 
ing a  solar  system  like  that  of  Algol,  which  has 
been  already  described.  Otherwise,  the  nebula 
would  probably  retrograde  and  disappear,  by  diffu- 
sion, into  space  again.  We  may  expect  to  find 
abortive  efforts  of  nature  here,  as  we  so  constantly 
find  them  elsewhere,  not  merely  in  inorganic 
matter,  but  even  among  the  processes  of  life. 

In  Professor  Proctor's  article  ("  Essays  on  Astron- 
omy") on  the  square-shouldered  aspect  of  Saturn, 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  303 

he  mentions  a  hitherto  unexplained  circumstance 
of  the  earth's  atmosphere — the  curious  fact  that  the 
barometrical  pressure  of  the  earth's  atmosphere  is 
somewhat  higher  between  the  poles  and  the  equator 
than  immediately  over  the  latter,  as  might  be 
supposed  to  be  the  case.  This  is  a  phenomenon  of 
mutual  repulsion  similar  to  those  manifested  in  the 
operations  above  described.  The  rotation  of  the 
earth  on  its  axis  forces  the  terrestrial  atmosphere, 
by  its  centrifugal  motion,  in  undue  proportion, 
around  the  equatorial  belt,  causing  the  same  sort 
of  atmospheric  thinning  at  the  poles  which  we  see 
in  the  solar  photosphere  at  its  corresponding  parts. 
At  the  same  time  the  highly  electrified  atmosphere, 
by  its  mutually  repellent  action,  tends  to  force  this 
swollen  equatorial  ring  backward  toward  the  poles. 
The  resultant  of  these  two  repulsions  is  an  area  of 
maximum  density  part  way  between  the  poles  and 
the  equator.  It  is  probable  that  this  self-repellent 
equatorial  swell  may  play  some  part  in  the  sun's 
atmosphere,  in  extending,  and  also  in  limiting, 
the  areas  of  eruptive  sun-spots  outward  from  his 
equator. 

While  the  nebulae  are  more  distant  than  many 
of  the  discrete  stars  revealed  to  us  by  the  telescope, 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  are  more 
distant  than  the  star-clouds  into  which  are  merged 
the  separate  stars  of  the  Milky  Way,  or  the  star- 
clusters  seen  in  other  portions  of  the  sky.  We 
know,  in  fact,  that  this  is  not  so,  for  our  telescopes 
show  brilliant  stars  in  very  many  cases  which  are 
components  of  the  nebulae  themselves;  and  the 


304      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

fact  that  the  nebulae  can  be  seen  as  having  visible 
form,  and  not  as  mere  points  of  light,  is  itself  con- 
clusive as  to  their  relative  distances.  Hence  we 
need  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  these  forming 
spirals  will  result  each  in  the  production  of  a  single 
solar  system,  and  not  a  galaxy  of  suns,  as  was  once 
supposed.  Were  such  the  case  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  us  to  observe  the  structure  of  the  neb- 
ulae at  all,  as  their  distances  would  be  far  too  vast. 
Of  the  forms  of  the  gaseous  nebulae  Guillemin  asks, 
"  Is  the  spiral  the  original  form  of  those  gaseous 
matters,  the  condensation  of  which  may  give,  or 
has  given,  birth  to  each  individual  of  this  gigantic 
association  ?"  The  same  author  says  of  these  ap- 
parently regularly  formed  nebulae,  "  It  is  impossible 
not  to  recognize  in  them  so  many  systems."  Many 
of  the  spiral  nebulae  were  formerly  supposed  to  be 
globular  aggregations  of  nebulous  matter  only,  and 
their  spiral  character  came  as  a  great  surprise  with 
the  use  of  more  powerful  telescopes ;  and  many — 
nay,  most — of  these  apparently  globular  nebulae 
have  totally  changed  their  appearance  when  viewed 
with  instruments  of  higher  power,  while  the  spirals 
have  become  more  and  more  pronounced  in  char- 
acter with  every  increase  of  telescopic  vision.  Of 
one  of  such  apparently  globular  nebulae  Guillemin 
says,  "  The  center  is  like  a  large  globular  nebula 
with  a  very  marked  condensation,  whence  radiate 
branches  arranged  in  the  form  of  spirals.  In  several 
points  of  these  branches  other  centers  of  condensa- 
tion are  noticed.  Sir  John  Herschel  had  classed 
this  among  the  nebulae  of  rounded,  globular  form, 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.  305 

doubtless  because  the  central  nebulosity  was  the  only  one 
revealed  by  his  telescope."  The  formation  of  the 
sub-centers  in  this  nebula  (which  is  between  the 
Great  Bear  and  Bootes)  should  be  particularly  noted 
in  connection  with  the  coalescence  of  planets  as 
above  described.  In  a  note  to  Guillemin's  work, 
Professor  Lockyer  says,  "  The  proper  motion  of 
nebulae  has  not  yet  been  inquired  into,  because 
everybody,  looking  upon  them  as  irresolvable 
star-clusters,  thought  them  infinitely  remote.  N"ow, 
however,  that  we  know  they  are  not  clusters  of  stars, 
properly  so  called,  it  is  possible  that  they  may  be 
much  nearer  to  us  than  we  imagine." 

In  connection  with  the  double-sun  spiral  nebula 
shown  in  the  preceding  illustration,  Guillemin 
says,  "  We  have  noticed  nebulae  accompanied  by 
systems  of  double  or  multiple  stars,  placed  in  a 
manner  so  symmetrical  in  the  midst  of  the  nebu- 
losity that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  existence 
of  a  real  connection  between  the  stars  and  the 
nebulae."  And  Flammarion  says  of  these  apparently 
globular  nebulae,  when  under  the  observation  of 
more  powerful  telescopes,  "  In  the  place  where 
pale  and  whitish  clouds  gave  out  a  calm  and  uni- 
form light,  the  giant  eye  of  the  telescope  has  dis- 
cerned alternately  dark  and  luminous  regions" — that 
is  to  say,  they  reveal  the  operation  of  the  opposite 
forces  of  attraction  and  repulsion,  and  are  spiral. 
While  gaseous  nebulae  may  be  of  any  conceivable 
form,  the  direction  and  operation  of  the  forces 
which  will  determine  their  character  as  solar  systems 
must  be  similar,  just  as  with  the  forms  of  organic 
u  26* 


306       SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

life,  and  the  only  nebulae  which  reveal  a  distinct 
systematic  development  in  harmony  with  a  work- 
ing solar  system  are  the  spiral.  There  is  no  diffi- 
culty whatever  in  tracing  such  a  nebula  through  all 
its  formative  stages,  as  we  have  done,  and  we  can, 
in  fact,  see  painted  on  the  background  of  the  sky 
every  step  of  the  shifting  tableau  through  which 
such  forms  must  pass. 

By  the  nebular  hypothesis  the  whole  course  of 
development,  of  necessity,  is  rigidly  forward  to  its 
culmination ;  but  by  employing  the  analogies  pre- 
sented to  us  in  other  operations  of  nature,  we  can 
readily  account  for  variations,  haltings,  ineffectual 
efforts,  uncompleted  processes,  and  even  reversals 
and  redistributions  into  other  secondary  sources  of 
energy.  They  equally  comprise  the  agencies  for  the 
production  of  a  single  solar  system  or  of  a  myriad, 
just  as  we  see  the  vortical  water-spouts  or  sand- 
storms either  single,  double,  or  multiple;  they  are 
flexible,  as  are  all  the  processes  of  nature,  and 
require  no  violent  assumption  of  a  prior  physical 
basis  known  to  us  "  ne'er  before  on  sea  or  shore." 
They  also  account  for  the  deviation  from  the  normal 
of  the  orbits  of  Neptune  and  Mercury,  for  the 
formation  of  the  asteroids  and  Saturn's  rings,  for 
the  different  eccentricities  and  inclinations  of  the 
orbits,  for  the  forward  axial  rotation  of  the  planets 
and  their  satellites,  and  even  for  their  perturbations 
and  abnormalities ;  they  furnish  a  basis  for  Bode's 
empirical  law,  for  the  distribution  of  the  planets  in 
size,  for  the  origin  of  comets  and  meteor  streams,  for 
Kepler's  laws,  for  the  equal  and  permanent  relation 


THE  GENESIS  OF  SOLAR  SYSTEMS.          307 

of  eccentricities  and  inclinations,  and  for  the  fixed 
axial  position  of  the  moon  with  reference  to  the 
earth;  they  account  for  the  free  oxygen  in  the  planet- 
ary and  free  hydrogen  in  the  solar  atmosphere,  they 
employ  the  variation  of  volume  of  the  sun  as  a  reg- 
ulator instead  of  an  independent  generator  of  light 
and  heat,  and  they  are  in  entire  conformity  with  the 
established  principles  which  govern  the  electrical 
generation  of  active  forces,  their  transmission  to 
the  sun,  their  transformation  into  light  and  heat, 
and  their  return  to  the  regions  of  space,  where 
they  continue  to  act  with  potential  energy  to  all 
eternity,  as  they  must  do  if  space  itself  is  eternal ; 
and  we  surely  know  that,  if  anything  whatever  is 
eternal,  space  must  be  so.  This  great  ocean — the 
home,  the  domain,  the  workshop  of  creative  en- 
ergy— is  the  last  retreat  of  the  human  intellect; 
here  it  may  find  rest,  and  here  alone.  While  solar 
systems  may  afford  in  their  circling  planets  a  pos- 
sible dominion  for  finite  life,  and  in  their  suns 
their  daily  bread ;  in  the  infinite  and  all-embracing 
realms  of  space,  filled  with  the  potentialities  of  all 
created  forms,  thrilled  with  the  impulses  of  all 
creative  force,  is  to  be  found  the  unfailing  source 
of  all,  the  dominion  of  the  eternal  architect,  be- 
fore whom  nature  bends  the  obedient  knee,  waits 
to  hear  his  mighty  voice,  or  swiftly  runs  to  do  his 
royal  bidding. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

THE   MOSAIC   COSMOGONY. 

"  One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh : 
but  the  earth  abideth  for  ever. ' ' — Bible. 

THUS,  as  we  have  seen,  through  countless  future 
ages  will  the  sun,  with  his  incandescent  envelope 
of  hydrogen,  and  the  planets,  with  their  life-sus- 
taining atmospheres  of  oxygen,  fulfil  their  ap- 
pointed times  and  courses.  But  if  we  could  con- 
ceive that  all  atmospheres,  solar  and  planetary, 
were  suddenly  blotted  out  and  forever  annihilated, 
so  that  these  great  orbs  thenceforth  rolled  along  as 
they  do  now,  but  only  as  black  globes  in  an  ocean  of 
space  of  Stygian  darkness,  new  atmospheres  would 
at  once  begin  to  be  formed,  and  these  would  soon 
again  surround  the  sun  and  planets,  precisely  like 
those  which  now  exist. 

Sweeping  along  in  darkness,  the  force  of  gravity 
would  gather  around  each  of  these  bodies  vast 
accumulations  of  aqueous  vapor  and  other  gases 
condensed  from  the  attenuated  matter  of  surround- 
ing space.  The  planets,  by  their  axial  rotations, 
would  again  generate  from  these  regions,  newly 
occupied  as  the  system  drifted  along  through  space, 
electrical  energy  of  enormous  quantity  and  poten- 
tial. Earth  would  again  hear  the  mighty  mandate, 
"  Let  there  be  light,"  and  from  her  poles  to  her 
308 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  309 

equator  the  skies  would  blaze  with  brush-light 
auroras.  Suddenly,  with  a  mighty  leap,  the  pent- 
up  currents  would  flash  across  to  their  opposite 
electric  pole,  the  auroras  would  gradually  die  away, 
and  instantly  the  molecules  of  hydrogen  would 
begin  to  sift  out  at  the  solar  and  those  of  oxygen 
at  the  planetary  terminals.  The  electrical  currents 
driving  their  furious  pathway  through  the  rapidly 
gathering  hydrogen  envelope,  the  sun  would  first 
begin  to  faintly  flicker  with  hazy,  nebulous  light ; 
the  light  would  gather  intensity,  and  soon  flash 
and  glow  with  energy;  the  solar  nucleus  within 
would  become  intensely  heated  and  liquefied  or 
partially  volatilized,  and  again  the  solar  streams 
of  incandescent  heat  and  light  would  radiate  forth 
on  every  side ;  the  commingled  gases,  oxygen  and 
nitrogen,  would  once  more  surround  each  planetary 
globe,  and  we  should  have  a  new  solar  envelope 
just  as  we  now  see  it,  and  new  planetary  atmos- 
pheres like  our  own;  and  then,  and  not  till  then, 
would  the  opposing  generative  forces  permanently 
counterbalance  each  other  and  electrolytic  decom- 
position become  practically  stationary,  except  to 
compensate  for  the  slight  variations  constantly 
liable  to  occur  in  the  complicated  running  of  the 
mechanism.  So  the  mutilated  crustacean  re-grows 
his  lost  claws,  and  so  our  own  gaping  wounds  are 
healed  by  the  great  vis  medicatrix  natures.  The 
most  stable  of  all  things  is  mutually  balanced  in- 
stability; perhaps  there  is  no  other  form  of  sta- 
bility. 

The   "  Nebular    Hypothesis"    of    Laplace   con- 


310     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

cerns  itself  only  with  the  aggregate  matter  of 
which  our  solar  system  is  composed,  and  the  force 
of  gravity,  including  cohesion,  ignoring  the  action 
of  the  equally  powerful  force  of  repulsion.  But 
there  is  another  nebular  hypothesis  much  older 
than  that  of  Laplace  and  far  more  scientific,  for  it 
utilizes  both  the  force  of  gravity  and  cohesion  and 
the  radiant  force  of  repulsion  in  the  generation  of 
our  solar  system.  We  refer  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Mosaic  cosmogony.  Whatever  the  origin  of 
this  magnificent  narrative  may  have  been,  whether 
written  down  by  Moses  originally,  or  by  him  de- 
rived from  the  sacred  learning  of  Egypt,  with 
which  he  was  fully  acquainted,  or  by  the  Egyptian 
scribes  drawn  from  Ethiopia,  and  still  further  back 
from  the  sacred  traditions  of  India,  it  bears  inter- 
nal evidence,  when  properly  rendered  from  the 
Hebrew  record,  of  a  knowledge  of  these  stupendous 
phenomena  (which  no  human  eye  could  ever  have 
beheld)  which  is  most  remarkable.  The  com- 
monly accepted  versions  do  not  clearly  bring  out 
the  full  meaning  of  the  original, — indeed,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  the  earlier  translators  to 
have  done  so, — but  when  critically  and  etymologi- 
cally  rendered,  very  surprising  coincidences  with 
the  succession  of  events  as  they  must  actually  have 
occurred,  and  the  principles  involved  in  the  suc- 
cessive stages  of  creation,  will  be  found  in  nearly 
every  part  of  the  record. 

This  record  is  embodied  in  the  first  chapter  and 
first  three  verses  of  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis. 
The  Hebrew  was  long  believed  to  be  an  origina], 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  311 

if  not  an  inspired,  language,  but  it  is  now  well 
known  to  have  been  a  derivative  or  root  language, 
made  up  much  like  the  English,  and,  like  it,  having 
the  meanings  of  its  words  primarily  determined  by 
those  of  the  root-stems  from  which  they  have  been 
formed.  The  roots  of  these  Hebrew  words  are 
to  be  found  among  the  languages  of  many  older 
peoples,  and  nearly  all  of  them  have  now  been 
traced  to  their  immediate  origin.  Another  source 
of  error  is  in  the  so-called  Masoretic  pointing, 
which  was  not  introduced  for  a  thousand  years 
after  the  time  of  Moses,  and  which  has  often 
changed  the  signification  of  the  older  words,  and 
even  the  form  of  the  words  themselves;  but  by 
critical  researches  the  roots  and  their  combinations 
have  been  isolated,  so  that  we  are  now  able  to 
possess  a  much  mere  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
Mosaic  record  than  was  possible  in  former  times, 
for,  of  course,  no  original  copies  have  come  down 
to  us.  It  is  not  a  reconstruction  of  the  record 
which  has  been  made,  but  a  careful  editing  by 
means  of  the  derivation  and  true  signification  of 
the  words  used,  and  by  careful  comparison  among 
the  most  ancient  versions  accessible  to  modern 
research.  The  English  version,  while  imperfect  in 
its  rendering  of  this  ancient  narrative,  is  not  to  be 
considered  by  any  means  a  false  translation,  but  it 
largely  errs  in  failing  to  give  the  full  radical  mean- 
ing of  the  words  employed  in  the  original. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  indefiniteness  of  ren- 
dering in  the  ordinary  English  version  let  us  con- 
sider the  opening  sentences  of  the  narrative :  "  In 


312     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth.  And  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void ; 
and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep." 

In  the  "  beginning"  of  what?  Does  it  mean  the 
beginning  of  our  own  solar  system  ?  or  of  all  sys- 
tems ?  or  of  all  space  ?  or  of  Jehovah  (for  He  has 
not  yet  been  mentioned  or  described)?  or  of  the 
Aleim  themselves, — that  is,  did  the  work  begin  as 
soon  as  the  forces  began  ?  and  did  the  latter  origi- 
nate spontaneously,  or  otherwise  ?  What  "  God" 
is  meant  ?  Is  it  Jehovah,  or  Aleim,  or  some  other 
God  not  yet  mentioned  or  described  ?  If  we  will 
take  every  name  in  the  Bible  which  is  translated 
God  (and  it  may  be  any  of  these  according  to  the 
English  rendering),  we  will  have  legion.  We  shall 
even  find  that  the  same  word  which  is  translated 
"  God"  was  applied  by  Jehovah  on  one  occasion  to 
Moses.  "  Created"  ?  What  is  meant  by  this  word  ? 
Was  the  creating  a  creation  out  of  nothing  ?  out  of 
something  pre-existing?  or  something  coexisting 
elsewhere  ?  Was  the  creation  a  direct  or  an  indi- 
rect one  ?  by  the  use  of  the  forces  of  nature,  or  by 
overriding  the  forces  of  nature  ?  Was  it  a  physi- 
cal creation  by  an  inconceivable  action  of  mere 
thought,  or  will  ?  and  if  so,  was  this  thought,  or 
will,  God  himself,  or  one  of  his  attributes  or 
powers  only?  "The  heaven"?  What  heaven? 
Was  it  that  to  which  the  virtuous  are  supposed  to 
go  after  death?  or  was  it  some  more  physical 
heaven  ?  Was  the  heaven  the  atmospheric  heaven, 
the  interplanetary  heaven,  the  heaven  of  interstel- 
lar space,  or  that  more  extended  heaven  which  lies 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  313 

beyond  our  knowledge  ?  Was  the  heaven  one  of 
these  which  He  created,  or  did  He  create  all  the 
different  heavens  of  all  the  solar  systems  and  neb- 
ulae at  the  same  time  ?  "  Without  form"  ?  Was 
the  earth  without  any  form  at  all  ?  or  merely  with- 
out its  present  form  ?  or  without  some  particular 
form  not  mentioned  ?  If  the  earth  was  a  physical 
structure  it  must  have  had  some  form ;  what  was 
it  ?  "  And  void"  ?  Was  the  earth  void  like  a  soap- 
bubble  ?  or  void  like  a  ray  of  light  ?  or  a  vacuum  ? 
If  it  was  empty,  what  was  it  that  was  empty  ?  How 
could  the  heaven  and  earth  be  void  after  they  had 
been  brought  into  existence?  "Darkness  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep"  ?  What  deep  ?  Was  it 
the  sea  not  yet  created  ?  or  the  earth,  which  is  any- 
thing but  a  "  deep"  ?  was  it  the  atmosphere  ?  or  all 
space  ?  If  the  latter,  did  all  other  systems  of  space 
wait  for  their  light  on  ours  ?  or  did  we  wait  on 
theirs  ?  are  there  no  new  systems  now  forming,  and 
none  to  be  formed  hereafter  ?  If  all  space  is  meant, 
where  was  its  outside,  or  its  face  ?  and  what  occu- 
pied the  intervening  regions  ?  was  it  a  physical  face 
or  the  face  of  a  vacuum  ?  Were  these  statements  to 
be  accepted  by  faith  or  reason  ?  If  the  former,  was 
it  a  faith  which  could  only  have  come  from  the  ex- 
perience of  after-ages  ?  or  was  it  based  on  the  ipse 
dixit  of  Moses  ?  What  was  the  basis  of  faith  when 
the  record  was  first  written  ?  was  it  from  generally 
accepted  tradition  or  by  revelation  ?  Is  the  record 
anonymous  or  does  it  reveal  the  name  of  its 
author?  If  to  be  endorsed  by  knowledge  and 
reason,  why  should  not  the  narrative  be  strictly 
o  27 


314      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

and  accurately  translated,  even  at  the  expense  of 
conciseness  and  elegance  of  diction,  in  order  that 
the  exact  force  of  every  word  shall  be  fully  felt  and 
recognized  ?  If  the  record  is  from  divine  revela- 
tion, it  is  still  more  essential  to  know  precisely 
what  was  revealed ;  otherwise  we  are  no  better 
than  idolaters ;  we  are  worse,  in  fact,  for  we  have 
changed  and  falsified  the  landmarks  of  religion, 
and  bear  false  witness  against  God  Himself.  We 
must  not  interpret  Genesis  by  records  made  long 
subsequently ;  it  must  speak  for  itself  or  not  at  all. 
When  construed  in  accordance  with  the  exact 
definition  of  the 'words  themselves  quite  a  new  and 
strange  light  is  thrown  upon  the  history  of  the 
events  thus  recorded.  The  great  importance  of  a 
strict  construction  of  the  translation  and  fidelity 
to  the  original  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  the 
same  word  was  never  used  in  this  record  to  ex- 
press a  different  sense  in  different  parts,  nor  were 
two  different  words  ever  used  in  different  places  to 
express  the  same  meaning.  It  is,  therefore,  neces- 
sary to  give  every  word  of  the  original  its  exact 
fulness  and  force.  The  basis  of  the  following 
critical  translation  is  to  be  found  in  "Mankind: 
their  Origin  and  Destiny"  (Longmans  &  Co.,  Lon- 
don, 1872),  but  a  eareful  comparison  has  been 
made  with  other  accepted  authorities,  and  the  root- 
meanings  of  the  separate  words  have  been  care- 
fully traced  out,  so  that  many  necessary  changes 
will  be  found  to  have  been  made  in  order  to  bring 
out  the  precise  sense  of  the  original.  There  is  no 
actual  literal,  critical,  etymological,  and  scientific 


TtiE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  315 

rendering  embraced  in  a  single  translation  known 
to  us,  and  which  is  complete  in  itself;  but  that 
which  follows  will  be  found,  it  is  believed,  to  give 
every  word  its  particular  etymological  shade  of 
meaning,  and  to  employ  the  same  word  in  the  same 
place,  for  the  same  purpose,  and  with  the  same  sig- 
nification as  it  was  understood  to  have,  in  its  origi- 
nal form,  when  first  recorded.  The  specific  root- 
meanings  of  the  most  important  words  used  are 
further  explained  in  detail  in  a  separate  section 
below. 

The  use  of  ALEIM,  "  the  powerful  Forces,"  in 
the  plural,  followed  by  the  verb  in  the  singular,  is 
a  Hebraism,  and  indicates  the  collective  character 
of  the  forces  as  specially  energized,  sent  forth7,  and 
directed  by  Jeove  (Jeova  or  Jehovah  is  the  Chal- 
daic  form  of  the  word,  the  original  Hebrew  being 
Jeove),  who  does  not  appear  by  name  in  this 
narrative,  though,  as  we  shall  see,  specially  dele- 
gated power  from  some  higher  source  is  that 
characteristic  which  is  most  emphasized  through- 
out the  record.  These  forces  are  personified,  as  is 
usual  in  ancient  records  (and,  indeed,  in  modern 
thought),  but  they  are  in  reality  the  "  powers  of 
God."  The  author  of  the  work  above  referred  to 
says,  "  The  idea  of  Moses  was  that  there  was  a 
Supreme  God  .  .  .  and  that  He  only  acts  by  means 
of  his  agents  called  ALEIM,  the  Gods,  in  the  plu- 
ral and  indefinite  number,  or  embassadors,  or 
voices."  The  ancient  belief  in  the  unity  of  all 
forces  in  one  creative  individuality  is  also  most 
clearly  shown  in  some  of  the  oldest  Vedaic  hymns 


316      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  India  (see  Max  Miiller,  "  The  Veda").  "  Self 
(Atman)  is  the  Lord  of  all  things,  Self  is  the  King 
of  all  things.  As  all  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  are 
contained  in  the  nave  and  the  circumference,  all 
things  are  contained  in  this  Self;  all  selves  are 
contained  in  this  Self.  Brahman  (Force)  itself  is 
but  Self." 

Of  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  (see 
"  Evolution  and  Christianity,"  by  J.  F.  York)  it  is 
said,  "  The  chief  theological  characteristic  of  this 
first  of  all  known  civilized  religions  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Divine  Unity.  As  M.  de  Rouge  says,  '  One 
idea  predominates,  that  of  a  single  and  primeval 
God ;  everywhere  and  always  it  is  one  substance, 
self-existent,  and  an  unapproachable  God.' '  The 
Egyptian  cosmogony,  as  the  fragments  have  come 
down  to  us  (see  Professor  Arnold  Guyot,  "  Crea- 
tion"), is  as  follows : 

1.  The  original  gaseous  form,  and  the  darkness  of 
matter. 

2.  The  successive  transformations. 

3.  Light,  as  the  first  step  in  this  development. 

4.  The  separation  of  the  waters  below  from  the 
waters  above  the  expanse. 

5.  Periods  of  development  of  indefinite  length. 

6.  The  sun,  moon,  and  earth  organized  last. 
The  word  MLACTOU,  which  occurs  several  times 

repeated  in  the  summing  up  of  this  narrative,  ex- 
plains the  character  of  ALEIM  most  fully,  as  spe- 
cially energized  and  directed  agencies  or  forces. 
This  word  never  has  any  other  meaning.  Even 
when  applied  to  a  king  it  was  not  a  king  as  a 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  817 

monarch,  but  as  the  specially  directed  agent  of 
God.  I.  Samuel  xxviii.  17,  "  The  Lord  hath  sent 
the  kingdom  out  of  thine  hand;  .  .  .  because 
thou  obeydst  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord."  When, 
in  Exodus  xiii.  21  it  is  said  that  "  Jeove  went  be- 
fore them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,"  this  is  ex- 
plained, in  chapter  xiv.  verse  19,  to  mean  that  this 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  was  MLAC, 
a  messenger,  or  agent.  It  is  translated  "  angel"  in 
the  English  version,  but  it  was  not  a  personal  angel ; 
it  was  a  specially  energized  and  directed  force.  In 
the  earliest  times  it  was  not  the  God  of  fire,  or  of 
force,  or  of  justice  which  men  feared,  but  fire,  or 
force,  or  justice ;  the  anthropomorphic  conception 
came  later  with  the  generalization  of  all  fire,  all 
force,  or  all  justice.  We  say  now  that  a  malefac- 
tor fears  the  law ;  what  he  really  fears,  however, 
is  punishment.  In  this  record  we  are  dealing  with 
the  primordial  forces  of  God, — gravity,  electricity, 
attraction,  repulsion,  cohesion,  vital  force,  etc., 
etc.,  but  acting  with  special  energy  for  a  prede- 
termined result.  Of  these  forces  Dr.  McCosh 
says,  in  his  work  on  Christianity  and  Positivism, 
"  One  God,  with  his  infinitely  varied  perfections, — 
his  power,  his  knowledge,  his  wisdom,  his  love, 
his  mercy ;  we  should  see  that  one  Power  blowing 
in  the  breeze,  smiling  in  the  sunshine,  sparkling  in 
the  stars,  quickening  us  as  we  bound  along  in  the 
felt  enjoyment  of  health,  efflorescing  in  every  form 
and  hue  of  beauty,  and  showering  down  daily  gifts 
upon  us.  The  profoundest  minds  in  our  day,  and 
in  every  day,  have  been  fond  of  regarding  this 

27* 


318      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGF. 

force,  not  as  something  independent  of  God,  but 
as  the  very  power  of  God  acting  in  all  action  ;  so  that 
in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 
In  more  rugged  and  virile  form  this  was  precisely 
the  old  Mosaic  philosophy,  the  philosophy  of  the 
arcana  of  the  Egyptian  temples,  and  of  the  Yedaic 
age  of  the  Aryans  of  India.  Where  was  the  ra- 
diant center  of  this  unfailing  search-light  which 
has  poured  its  broad  belt  of  dazzling  brightness 
down  to  our  day  from  those  old,  prehistoric  ages  ? 

So  De  Jouvencel,  in  his  "  Genesis  according  to 
Science,"  says,  "  We  should  not  place  the  works 
of  nature  on  one  side  and  nature  on  the  other. 
Nature  is  a  work  and  not  a  person." 

The  word  which  in  the  English  version  is  trans- 
lated "  rested,"  in  the  concluding  verses  of  the  nar- 
rative, does  not  mean  rested  from-  fatigue,  but  rested 
as  a  pendulum  rests  when  it  ceases  to  vibrate. 
Had  the  word  been  rendered  "  came  to  a  state  of 
rest,"  it  would  have  been  far  more  accurate  and 
true  to  the  sense  of  the  original.  What  is  meant 
is  that  these  pent-up  forces  had  operated,  under  the 
guidance  of  Jeove,  to  rupture  a  state  of  unstable 
equilibrium  in  the  attenuated  matter  of  space,  just 
as  similar  forces  are  now  said  to  gather  energy  to 
produce  a  volcanic  eruption  of  the  earth's  crust, 
preceded  by  earthquakes  and  other  vast  disturb- 
ances radiating  from  the  center  of  rupture  of  these 
tensions  between  the  molecules  of  matter,  accom- 
panied by  explosive  expansion  and  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  disorganization  and  repulsion,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  condensation,  development,  harmony, 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONr.  319 

and  final  quiescence  of  these  specially  energized 
and  self-opposing  forces  in  a  newly  formed  state  of 
molecular  equilibrium.  To  quote  from  Professor 
Guyot,  "  God  rests  as  the  creator  of  the  visible 
universe.  The  forces  of  nature  are  now  in  that  ad- 
mirable equilibrium  which  we  now  behold,  and  which 
is  necessary  to  our  existence."  In  "  The  Unity  of 
Nature"  the  Duke  of  Argyle  says,  "  We  strain  our 
imaginations  to  conceive  the  processes  of  Creation, 
whilst  in  reality  they  are  around  us  daily." 

The  words  which  conclude  the  third  verse  of 
chapter  ii.  are  also  imperfectly  rendered  in  our 
English  version,  and  this  defect  has  led  to  a  popu- 
lar misconception  almost  universal.  They  are  con- 
strued to  mean  "  created — and  made,"  as  though 
marking  a  broad  class  distinction  between  the  dif- 
ent  processes  before  described.  From  this  the  in- 
ference has  been  drawn  that  while,  for  the  more 
subordinate  features,  the  word  rendered  "  made" 
indicated  that  these  were  stages  in  the  process  of 
creation  merely  involving  the  use  of  coexisting 
materials,  in  the  grander  features  of  the  work  it 
was  supposed  that  there  had  been  a  creation  ab 
initio, — that  is,  out  of  nothing.  Whole  libraries 
have  been  written  on  this  theme ;  but  the  words 
used  bear  no  such  meaning;  on  the  contrary, 
they  signify  the  exact  opposite.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  broad  distinction  between  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  two  words;  but  it  is  that  the  word 
which  is  to  be  rendered  "fashioned  like  the 
work  of  a  sculptor"  is  narrower  and  not  broader 
in  significance  than  the  simple  word  "made;" 


320     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

so  that  the  former  is  included  in,  but  is  not  gener- 
ically  distinct  from,  the  latter.  The  word  BRA 
means  that  these  portions  of  creation  were  fash- 
ioned with  the  care  and  artistic  skill  of  a  sculptor, 
as  contradistinguished  from  turning  out  the  pro- 
ductions in  mass ;  this  distinction  does  not  relate 
to  the  origin,  but  to  the  workmanship.  However 
interstellar  or  primordial  space  was  formed,  or 
when,  if  it  ever  was  formed,  there  is  nothing  in 
this  record  which  excludes  a  pre-existent  space 
substantially  like  that  which  now  is.  What  we 
see  in  the  sky,  among  the  nebulae,  are  later  devel- 
opments of  like  solar  systems,  in  like  manner, 
from  the  midst  of  the  substance  of  the  same  illim- 
itable and  eternal  space. 

But  biology  has  an  interest  in  this  account  of 
creation  equally  as  great  as  has  cosmology.  The 
word  BRA  is  first  applied  to  the  formation  of  the 
individualized  substance  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth.  They  were  fashioned  or  carved  out  like 
a  sculpture  from  something  on  which  the  forces 
could  operate.  There  was,  of  course,  creation  in- 
volved, but  it  was  a  mental,  not  a  physical  process. 
"When  a  sculptor  has  completed  his  clay  figure  he 
has  brought  forth  a  great  creation,  perhaps,  and  the 
"  creation"  is  still  his  own,  though  the  figure  be 
cast  in  bronze  by  hired  workmen  in  the  foundry, 
who  execute  the  sculptor's  will  at  two  dollars  a 
day,  it  may  be,  each.  Beyond  this  mental  element 
there  is  no  more  creation,  in  its  widest  sense,  than 
when  a  boy  "  creates"  a  new  point  on  his  pencil  by 
guiding  his  hand  and  knife  to  sharpen  it. 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  321 

When  the  "  diffused  light"  came,  it  is  not  said 
that  it  was  "  fashioned  like  the  work  of  a  sculp- 
tor," or  that  it  was  even  "made;"  but  that  it 
"came  into  existence."  "Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light,"  as  the  English  version  has  it. 
But  when  the  radiant  energy  of  the  sun  came  to 
be  formed,  on  the  fourth  day,  it  did  not  "  come 
into  existence,"  nor  was  it  "  fashioned  like  the 
work  of  a  sculptor ;"  it  was  "  made."  The  reason 
is  that  it  was  not  a  development  from  the  preced- 
ing "  diffused  light,"  but  a  new  kind  of  light,  made 
mechanically  by  the  electrolysis  of  aqueous  vapor 
around  the  sun's  body,  forming  a  hydrogen  en- 
velope, and  by  driving  the  furious  torrents  of 
electricity  from  the  planets  through  this  atmos- 
phere, while  the  auroral,  "  diffused  light"  of  the 
earth  was  gradually  dying  away  during  the  process. 
Hence  there  was  no  room  for  the  word  BRA,  or  for 
the  word  IEI  (came  into  existence)  here ;  the  word 
to  be  used  was  OSH.  And  when  life  was  first 
introduced, — vegetable  life,  the  primal  life, — the 
word  used  is  not  BRA  ;  this  life  was  not  "  fash- 
ioned" or  developed  from  other  life.  But  when 
animal  life  was  afterwards  introduced,  the  word 
used  is  BRA;  it  was  a  refashioning.  What  was 
this  life  fashioned  out  of?  It  was  not  "  made ;"  it 
did  not  "begin  to  exist;"  it  was  developed.  In 
this  manner  the  earth  was  finally  filled  with  animal 
life.  Then  came  the  introduction  of  the  human 
race.  Here  we  again  have  the  word  BRA,  thrice 
repeated ;  but  when  this  introduction  of  mankind 
was  first  projected,  and  before  it  was  executed,  it 


322      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

was  in  these  words,  "  We  will  make  [the  root  OSH] 
mankind;"  or,  in  the  English  version,  "Let  us 
make  man."  There  seems  here  to  have  been  a 
gradual  ascent  of  living  organisms  by  develop- 
ment, almost  precisely  in  accordance  with  the  most 
recent  teachings  of  science.  Two  essentially  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  light  were  successively  produced, 
independently  of  each  other;  the  earlier  kind 
"  came  into  being,"  and  the  later  "  was  made." 
The  substance  or  entity  of  the  heavens  and  of  the 
earth,  generically,  "  was  fashioned."  Three  suc- 
cessive introductions  of  organic  life  not  essentially 
different  from  each  other  occurred ;  the  first  is  de- 
scribed thus :  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth ;  .  .  .  and 
the  earth  brought  forth,"  in  the  English  version ;  or 
"  There  shall  be  made  to  grow ;  .  .  .  and  there  was 
caused  to  arise  suddenly  out  of  the  ground  .  .  . 
vegetation,"  as  more  accurately  rendered.  The 
second  form  of  organic  life,  in  order  of  time,  the 
animal,  was  "  fashioned."  The  third  form,  man- 
kind, was  also  "  fashioned,"  and  this  was  done 
long  subsequently  to  the  introduction  of  the 
second. 

If  the  word  BRA  had  any  signification  of  original 
creation  it  would  have  been  applied  to  the  first  crea- 
tion of  life,  for  it  was  far  more  wonderful  and 
original  that  there  should  be  vegetable  life  which 
grew  and  developed,  which  brought  forth  flowers 
and  then  fruit,  which  formed  germinative  seeds, 
and  from  these  successively  and  continuously 
reproduced  its  multifarious  species,  than  that  ani- 
mal life  should  have  been  introduced  long  after- 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  323 

wards  to  repeat  these  same  things  which  vegetation 
had  been,  in  all  its  forms,  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  already  doing  for  untold  ages, — from  the 
third  period  of  the  earth's  long  history  to  the 
fifth ;  and  more  especially  still  when  we  consider 
that  vegetable  life  and  animal  life,  in  their  lowest 
forms,  have  no  positive  line  of  division  between 
them. 

And  if  OSH,  which  is  applied  to  the  genesis  of 
solar  light,  be  capable  of  the  signification  of  origi- 
nal creation,  then  this  word  should  have  been  ap- 
plied to  the  generation  of  the  "  diffused  light"  of 
the  second  day,  for  the  genesis  of  light  is  far  more 
wonderful  and  original  than  the  subsequent  pro- 
duction of  sunlight,  after  the  forming  earth  had 
existed  for  two  whole  formative  periods,  from  the 
second  to  the  fourth,  under  the  constant  illumina- 
tion of  this  universally  diffused  auroral  light.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  words  applied  to  the  first 
generation  of  light  and  the  first  generation  of  life 
be  held  to  mark  an  original  creation,  then  these 
words  are  never  applied  in  this  whole  narrative  to 
the  genesis  of  the  entity  of  the  heavens,  or  the 
earth,  or  the  sun  and  moon,  or  to  animal  life,  or 
the  life  of  man. 

The  radiant  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  were  not 
made  until  the  fourth  day,  while  the  introduction 
of  vegetable  life  dates  from  the  long  antecedent 
third  day  of  creation.  Prior  to  the  development 
of  the  sun's  thermal  light  there  could  have  been, 
as  we  have  already  shown,  no  free  oxygen  in  the 
terrestrial  atmosphere ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  cir- 


324     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGF. 

cumstance  that  vegetation,  which  is  the  only  form 
of  organic  life  which  could  have  existed  and 
propagated  its  species  in  an  atmosphere  composed 
of  carbonic,  nitrogenous,  and  aqueous  vapors,  de- 
void of  oxygen,  is  that  particular  form  of  life 
which  has  been  selected  for  this  purpose,  and  its 
advent  placed  prior  to  the  making  of  the  sun.  It 
would  have  been  far  more  reasonable  (previous  to 
our  present  knowledge  of  these  things)  to  have 
placed  the  formation  of  the  sun  in  advance  of  the 
introduction  of  life ;  it  is  surprising  that  this  was 
not  done,  unless  we  give  to  these  "ancients"  a 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  natural  science  far 
beyond  anything  hitherto  attributed  to  them. 

In  the  same  connection  there  is  described  a  stage 
preparatory  to  and  leading  up  to  the  simultaneous 
development  of  the  sun's  light  and  heat,  and  the 
sifting  out  of  hydrogen  around  the  solar  core,  and 
of  oxygen  in  the  terrestrial  atmosphere,  which  is 
equally  remarkable.  The  "  separation  of  the 
waters"  described  in  verses  6  and  7  has  never 
been  fully  rendered  into  English,  or  even  under- 
stood in  the  original,  as  the  words  seemed  mean- 
ingless in  their  literal  sense  until  correctly  inter- 
preted by  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  present  work. 

We  must  first  note  that  the  separation  of  the 
waters  of  space  to  two  opposite  foci,  with  an  in- 
tervening space  of  attenuated  matter,  and  their  con- 
densation there  into  two  entirely  different  bodies, 
was  the  work  of  the  second  day,  while  the  forma- 
tion of  the  terrestrial  rain-clouds  and  seas,  as  con- 
nected together,  was  a  work  of  the  third  day,  and 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  325 

was  not  accomplished  until  then,  which  was  long 
afterwards.  These  entirely  different  operations — 
different  in  time,  place,  character,  and  circumstance 
— have  always  been  confounded  with  each  other; 
but  one  is  in  reality  systemic  and  the  other  merely 
local. 

In  verse  6  there  was  decreed  an  expanse  or 
thinning  (an  attenuated  region)  in  the  center  of  the 
waters,  and  a  separation  was  made  by  the  forma- 
tion of  two  "  spots"  (verse  7),  one  under  the  ex- 
panse and  the  other  above  the  expanse ;  the  ex- 
panse was  space,  interplanetary  space.  Professor 
Arnold  Guyot,  in  his  book  on  Creation,  says, 
"  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  English  version  has 
translated  the  Hebrew  word  expanse  by  the  word 
firmament.  .  .  .  The  difficulties  they  [the  commen- 
tators] have  created  for  themselves  arose  .  .  .  from 
depriving  it  of  its  cosmogonic  character  and  belit- 
tling it  by  reducing  the  great  phenomena  there 
described  to  a  simple  modification  of  the  terrestrial 
atmosphere.  .  .  .  They  forget  that  this  thin  cov- 
ering of  clouds  is  but  a  temporary  and  ever-chang- 
ing one,  and  that  the  clouds  are  in  that  heaven 
rather  than  above  it.  ...  They  forget  that  this  is 
not  the  true  heavens  in  which  are  spread  the  sun 
and  moon  and  stars.  .  .  .  This  grand  day,  so 
dwarfed  and  misunderstood,  is  the  one  in  which 
are  described  the  generations  of  the  heavens,  an- 
nounced by  Moses,  which  otherwise  find  no  place 
in  the  narrative  of  the  creative  week." 

The  two  foci  of  waters  were  the  solar  and  ter- 
restrial ;  around  these  bodies  were  gathered  by  the 

28 


326      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

attraction  of  gravity,  and  there  condensed,  the 
aqueous  vapors  from  the  attenuated  intervening 
matter  of  space ;  the  earth  by  its  rotation  gener- 
ated the  enormous  electrical  currents  which  still 
continue;  when  these  made  their  mighty  leap 
across  to  the  sun,  the  diffused  auroral  light  around 
the  earth  gradually  disappeared,  hydrogen  and  oxy- 
gen began  to  be  evolved  at  the  opposite  poles — 
the  sun  and  the  earth — from  the  condensed  en- 
velopes of  aqueous  vapor  which  surrounded  them, 
the  sun's  hydrogen  atmosphere  was  pierced,  as  in 
the  pail-of-water  experiment  described  in  an  earlier 
chapter  of  the  present  work,  by  the  planetary,  elec- 
tric currents,  the  sun  became  incandescent,  and 
pari  passu  the  earth  became  fitted,  by  the  develop- 
ment of  oxygen,  for  the  abode  of  animal  life.  As 
taking  part  in  this  great  mechanical  transformation, 
the  sun  was  said  to  have  been  "  made;"  it  did  not 
"  come  into  being." 

Just  prior  to  the  introduction  of  vegetable  life — 
during  the  same  creative  epoch,  in  fact,  and  for  the 
support  of  which  life  it  was  necessary — the  waters 
under  the  expanse  were  condensed  into  rain-clouds 
and  seas,  and  there  is  a  curious  reference  (verse  9) 
to  the  appearance  of  the  earth's  dryness  "  as  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  an  internal  fire;"  the 
gradual  cooling  of  the  earth  by  the  radiation  of  its 
internal  heat  of  condensation  into  space  would 
account  for  this  appearance,  and,  in  connection 
with  the  diffused  auroral  light  throughout  the  whole 
sky,  would  doubtless  have  sufficed  for  the  support 
of  vegetable  life. 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  327 

In  verse  16  the  fixed  stars  (the  suns  of  other  sys- 
tems) are  referred  to,  but  in  a  parenthetical  state- 
ment— almost  deprecatory,  in  fact — that  "  the  dim 
and  almost  extinct  lights"  the  same  forces  created 
also,  but  when  they  were  created  is  not  stated  in  the 
record.  The  occasion  for  this  incidental  remark  is 
to  be  found  in  the  preceding  statement  that  the 
two  new  luminaries,  the  sun  and  moon,  were  the 
two  "  superior  bodies  in  size  of  the  starry  lights." 
Having  mentioned  the  stars  in  this  comparison,  the 
author  feels  called  upon  to  add  that  the  latter  also 
had  been  similarly  created, — that  is,  that  they  were 
not  original  existences,  and  of  course  they  are 
not,  but  they  were  not  created  at  that  epoch,  and 
are  not  said  to  have  been. 

In  chapter  ii.  verse  4,  which  opens  the  second 
narrative  (quite  a  different  history,  by  the  way), 
Jeove  appears  Himself,  joined  with  the  Aleim, 
and  henceforth  this  personal  connection  is  main- 
tained; the  English  version  translates  this  com- 
posite word  "  The  Lord  God,"  which  means  the 
Master  God;  the  correct  reading  is,  however,  the 
"  God  of  gods,"  or  what  we  call  the  "  God  of  the 
forces  of  nature,"  or  the  "  God  omnipotent." 

In  the  whole  Mosaic  cosmogony  there  is  nothing 
which  can  even  suggest  a  gradually  closing  nebu- 
lous mass ;  the  element  of  rotation  is  absent  (and  it 
would  not  have  been  understood  by  the  people  even 
if  presented) ;  but,  with  this  exception,  the  processes 
of  development  are  substantially  in  accord  with 
what  must  really  have  taken  place,  and  in  the  order 
described.  But  it  is,  as  before  stated,  absolutely 


328      SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

essential  to  understand  the  root-meanings  of  all 
the  more  important  words  used  in  the  original.  A 
superficial  translation  is  not  only  meaningless,  but 
misleading ;  whereas,  when  accurately  understood, 
the  record  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ever  pre- 
sented to  human  intelligence.  The  words  used 
were  selected  deliberately  for  their  specific  shades 
of  meaning,  and,  unless  these  are  properly  ren- 
dered, to  the  uninformed  the  narrative  will  present 
a  simple  succession  of  startling  phenomena,  while 
to  the  educated  student  each  of  these  changes 
carries  within  its  verbal  index  its  origin,  its  mode, 
and  the  knowledge  of  the  forces  at  work.  To  the 
one  it  is  a  dramatic  spectacle  performed  on  the 
stage  in  front;  to  the  other  it  is  the  same  work  as 
seen  behind  the  curtain,  with  all  the  intermoving 
mechanism  (the  author's  manuscript  the  sole  guide), 
the  interplay  of  complicated  forces,  the  triumphant 
successes,  the  rapt  attention,  and  even  the  sudden 
applause  extorted  at  each  wondrous  climax  from 
the  skilled  actors  themselves,  who  are  at  the  same 
time  unceasingly  engaged  in  working  out  the 
mighty  drama  of  creation.  One  might  readily 
believe  that  the  original  author  of  this  record  was 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  processes  involved 
in  the  development  of  a  solar  system  like  our  own 
from  the  diffused  primordial  matter  of  space,  sub- 
stantially as  we  have  endeavored,  in  the  present 
work,  to  deduce  them  from  the  most  recent  in- 
vestigations and  discoveries  of  science. 

Of  the  watery  vapors  condensed  above  the  ex- 
panse of  space  many  of  the  ancient  writers  had  a 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  329 

far  more  correct  knowledge  than  had  those  who 
translated  these  chapters  from  the  original  into  the 
various  modern  languages.  In  the  Psalms  we  read, 
"  Praise  him,  ...  ye  waters  that  be  above  the 
heavens;"  in  the  Song  of  the  Three  Holy  Chil- 
dren, "  O  all  ye  waters  that  be  above  the  heavens." 
Theophilus  speaks  of  the  u  visible  sky  as  having 
drawn  to  itself  a  portion  of  the  waters  of  chaos  at 
the  time  of  the  creation.  Saint  Augustine  says 
that  the  firmament  has  been  formed  "  between  the 
upper  and  the  lower  waters,"  and  quotes  Genesis 
i.  6  and  7,  as  his  authority. 

Thousands  of  years  ago,  as  far  back  as  the  days 
of  the  Pythagoreans,  and  even  long  before,  man- 
kind was  acquainted  with  the  mariner's  compass, 
telescopic  tubes,  and  glass  lenses ;  they  knew  that 
the  moon  receives  her  light  by  reflection  from  the 
sun,  of  the  presence  of  mountains  and  valleys  on 
the  lunar  surface,  that  her  day  and  night  are  each 
a  fortnight  in  length,  that  there  were  other  planets 
known  to  the  Egyptians  besides  the  seven  known 
to  the  Greeks  (the  Brahmans  reckoned  fifteen  of 
them),  that  the  sun  is  the  center  of  our  planetary 
system,  that  the  earth  and  the  other  planets  re- 
volve around  it,  that  the  earth  is  round  and  rotates 
on  its  own  axis  daily,  that  weight  is  a  principal  ele- 
ment in  the  maintenance  of  these  rotations,  that  the 
fixed  stars  are  suns,  and  that  the  Milky  Way  appears 
white  from  the  number  of  stars  which  it  contains. 
Kircher  quotes  from  an  ancient  Syrian  author  the 
philosophy  of  the  sidereal  system,  dividing  it  into 
many  layers  or  spheres  attached  to  orbits,  each  pre- 
28* 


330     SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

sided  over  by  a  spirit.  In  the  eighth  sphere  are 
placed  the  fixed  stars,  "  still  higher  two  other  lay- 
ers of  stars  not  less  luminous,  and  of  different  sizes, 
the  nebulae  and  the  small  stars  of  the  Milky  Way, 
and  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  the  celestial  waters, 
which  spread  over  the  whole  firmament,  and  which 
compose  the  great  sea  of  light  and  the  boundless 
ocean."  The  sources  of  all  this  wondrous  knowl- 
edge can  be  traced  back  through  Chaldea,  Arabia, 
Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and,  through  the  colony  of  Meroe, 
to  India. 


ROOT-MEANINGS  OF  THE    PRINCIPAL  WORDS  USED    IN    THE 
MOSAIC  NARRATIVE   OF  CREATION. 

ALEIM  ("corruptly  called  Elohim  by  the  modern  Jews,  but 
always  Aleim  in  the  synagogue  copies")  means  the  Strong 
Forces  (or,  by  subsequent  impersonation,  subaltern  gods), 
operating  to  carry  out  the  purposes  and  execute  the  plans  of 
Jeove.  AL,  the  root,  signifies  Strong,  strength,  a  ram;  AL-E 
means  Strong  in  a  personal  sense;  ALEIM  (plural)  means  the 
Forces,  the  Strong-ones,  the  Powers,  and  in  Egyptian  mythol- 
ogy, the  subordinate,  or  executive,  gods,  the  demi-urgi.  Exo- 
dus vii.  1,  "And  the  Lord  [Jeove]  said  unto  Moses,  See  I 
have  made  thee  a  god  [Aleim]  to  Pharaoh  ;  thou  shalt  speak 
all  that  I  command  thee." 

BRA,  carved,  cut,  fashioned  like  the  work  of  a  sculptor,  gave 
a  new  shape  to,  formed  from  unformed  material.  From  BR,  a 
knife ;  BR-I,  to  carve,  to  cut. 

BRASHIT,  in  the  commencement  or  beginning  of  individualized 
existence  (with  the  initial  preposition  B-).  B  signifies  in;  IT 
(which  is  related  to  AT)  signifies  individualized  existence; 
RASH,  a  principle  or  beginning,  or  a  commencement. 

AT,  connected  with  the  Chaldaic,  signifies  substance,  essence, 
or  individuality,  "the  thing  itself"  (Latin,  ens] ;  it  is  cor- 
rectly translated  "  individualized  substance." 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  331 

ESHMIM,  the  combination  of  the  preposition  E  with  the 
substantive  SHMIM,  the  word  signifying  of  the  visible  heavens, 
or  the  planisphere. 

ARTZ,  the  earth  in  a  state  of  aridity,  or  as  a  generalized 
expression  for  the  earth  ;  AR  signifies  the  earth,  and  the  termi- 
nation TZ  intensifies  the  signification  of  drought,  whiteness, 
aridity  ;  in  contrast  with  this  is  ADME,  red  earth,  or  produc- 
tive earth  or  soil. 

U-  is  a  conjunction,  signifying  and  or  then,  in  the  sense  of 
succession  of  time,  something  like  our  phrase  "and  then." 

TEOU  does  not  mean  "  without  form,"  nor  does  UBEOU  mean 
"  and  void,"  as  rendered  in  our  English  version,  at  least  not 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  these  words.  "  TEOU  refers  to  extinct 
life,  or  to  existence  shut  up  as  in  a  tomb  and  in  darkness,  while 
TJ-BEOU  refers  to  life  which  is  about  reappearing,  but  still  hid- 
den in  the  egg  or  the  ovary,  and  waiting  for  the  word  which 
shall  cause  the  dawn  of  creation  to  shine  upon  it."  These 
words  are  more  properly  rendered  "  tomb-like  darkness  and 
undeveloped." 

ESHC  means  darkness;  not  merely  an  intense  darkness, 
but  what  may  be  denominated  a  "  thick  darkness ;"  it  is  an 
enshrouding  darknesss  which  compresses  and  hinders.  It  is 
precisely  such  a  darkness  as  would  be  produced  by  the  inter- 
stratified  cloud-layers  between  the  convolutions  of  a  forming 
spiral  nebula,  or  the  cloud-strata  surrounding  the  earth  before 
electrolytic  decomposition  of  the  aqueous  vapors  had  ensued. 
With  the  advent  of  the  sun,  in  the  narrative,  this  darkness 
and  the  term  which  expresses  it  disappear. 

TEOU-M  is  the  word  above  explained,  with  the  termination 
-M,  expressing  the  idea  of  arrested,  doubtful,  indefinite,  as 
applied  to  all  existence ;  the  word  "  undifferentiated  nature" 
properly  interprets  its  vagueness  and  general  character  of  an 
abyss  of  being,  in  the  etymological  sense  of  "  nature"  as  the 
totality  of  things  at  that  time  born  or  produced. 

ROVE  means  breath,  in  the  sense  of  an  expanding,  liber- 
ating, or  developing  spirit ;  its  literal  meaning  is  "  the  breath, 
the  spirit  which  dilates  and  frees." 

MREPHT,  brooded  with  incubating  love;  REPH  is  composed 


332     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

of  RE,  "  to  be  full  of  good-will,  to  be  agreeable,"  and  EPH, 
"  to  cover,  to  protect,  to  incubate,  to  brood." 

MIM,  the  seeds  of  all  beings,  the  waters.  It  is  said,  "the 
choice  of  this  letter  M,  to  signify  water  [the  alphabetical 
Egyptian  letter  M  is  represented  by  the  two  undulatory  lines 
which  in  the  hieroglyphics  represent  water],  is  connected 
with  the  Egyptian  ideas  of  the  cause  of  the  generation  of 
living  beings."  Numbers  xxiv.  7,  "  He  shall  pour  the  waters 
out  of  his  buckets,  and  the  seed  [ZRO]  in  the  waters  [B-MIM]." 
The  latter  word  is  plural  in  form,  but  both  singular  and 
plural  in  sense. 

AOUR,  diffused  light;  a  light  resembling  the  dawn,  but  quite 
distinct  from  the  light  of  the  sun.  The  latter  was  not  estab- 
lished until  the  fourth  day,  and  its  advent  is  characterized  by 
a  new  word,  LEAIR,  "  to  cause  light  to  move  above  the  earth." 

JOUM  is  day,  generically,  and  LILE  night. 

RQIO,  the  expanse ;  ATRQIO,  the  individualized  substance  of 
the  expanse.  Space,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Egyptians,  "  not 
being  a  vacuum,  but  a  material  substance,  Moses  could  say, 
and  was  even  compelled  to  say,  '  the  substance  of  space,  that 
which  constitutes  it.' " 

OSH,  made.  This  word  first  occurs  in  verse  7,  and  is  there 
applied  to  the  making  a  separation  between  the  waters  or 
aqueous  vapors  condensed  around  the  earth  and  those  con- 
densed around  some  similar  spot  "  above,  as  regards  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  expanse," — to  wit,  the  solar  core  or  nucleus, 
— to  which,  attracted  by  gravity  from  the  attenuated  vapors 
of  the  space  between,  is  due  the  subsequent  establishment  of 
the  solar  light  and  heat,  as  in  an  electrical  arc  light,  and  the 
presence  of  oxygen  in  the  terrestrial  atmosphere.  These 
processes,  involving  the  constitution  of  our  atmosphere  and 
of  the  sun's  photosphere  and  chromosphere,  were  not  com- 
pleted until  two  subsequent  cosmical  periods  had  elapsed, 
from  the  third  to  the  fifth.  The  word  OSH,  in  its  differ- 
ent combinations  and  inflections,  is  also  used  in  verse  11, 
where  it  signifies  "making,"  as  applied  to  fruit;  "yield- 
ing" fruit,  in  verse  12;  "they  made,"  as  Applied  to  the  sun 
and  moon,  in  verse  16 ;  "  made,"  as  applied  to  the  entity  of 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  333 

quadrupeds  and  higher  animals  generally,  in  verse  25;  "we 
will  make,"  as  applied  to  man,  verse  26;  "had  made,"  as 
applied  to  "  every  entity  of  creation,"  verse  31 ;  "  had  made," 
as  applied  to  the  specially  directed  work  as  MLACTOTJ,  chapter 
ii.  verse  2 ;  and  finally,  in  the  general  summing  up  in  verse 
3  of  the  second  chapter,  as  an  element  in  a  compound  sub- 
stantive phrase  "  according  to  the  making-act,"  or  "  in  accord- 
ance with  the  making  of  creation." 

"  OSHOUT,"  it  is  said,  "  signifies  a  manual  operation,  carried 
on  according  to  a  previously  conceived  idea,  or  model." 

We  find  a  similar  use  of  the  substantive  infinitive  with  a 
preceding  preposition  in  verse  21,  chapter  iii.  "  CTNOUT  is 
derived  from  TNE,  a  consoling  word.  TNOUT,  the  infinitive 
of  the  conjugation  Piel,  adds  to  the  word  the  act  of  causing 
to  be  done,  and  of  doing  with  care." 

A  similar  construction,  LRAOUT,  is  employed  in  chapter  ii. 
verse  19,  translated  in  the  English  version,  "  and  brought 
them  unto  Adam  to  see  what  .  .  ." ;  more  literally,  "  as  regards 
the  act  of  seeing,"  or  according  to  a  vision,  or  show.  That 
is,  they  were  brought  and  presented  to  his  sight. 

The  object  in  writing  these  two  words,  BRA  and  L-OSH-OUT, 
together  at  the  very  end  of  the  narrative  was  to  conclusively 
establish  the  fact,  beyond  all  possible  doubt,  that  the  whole 
work  of  creation  was  an  orderly  and  harmonious  progression. 

MLACTOU,  which  word  is  used  twice  in  verse  2  and  once 
in  verse  3  of  the  second  chapter,  and  not  previously,  is  also 
introduced  for  specific  emphasis.  It  means  that  the  whole 
preceding  work  of  creation  was,  in  its  nature,  "  the  work 
of  Mlac,"  a  messenger,  or  a  specially  energized  and  directed 
agency,  sent  to  fulfil  the  appointed  work  of  Jeove.  Its  pur- 
pose was  to  forever  prevent  the  belief  that  the  work  of 
creation  was  due  to  mere  natural  forces,  on  the  one  hand, 
operating  by  chance;  and,  on  the  other,  that  these  forces 
were  independent  gods  carrying  out  their  own  purposes, 
sind  of  their,  own  will.  It  was  set  up  as  a  double  barrier 
against  rationalism  on  the  one  side  and  polytheism  on  the 
other. 

It  may  be  incidentally  added  that  the  popular  belief  that 


334    SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

"  Adam  was  created  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth"  is  not  in 
accordance  with  the  original  record.  In  the  second  narra- 
tive, chapter  ii.  verse  7,  the  word  OPHR  is  rendered  "  dust" 
in  our  English  version,  but  it  does  not  signify  ordinary 
terrestrial  dust  at  all;  "its  radical  meaning  is  to  volatilize 
a  substance,  to  sublimate  it."  The  true  signification  of  the 
word  used  is  analogous  to  a  "  material  essence."  The  same 
word  is  used  in  Numbers  xxiii.  10  as  a  synonym  for  "  seed ;" 
it  is  said  that  "  the  Septuagint  version  translates  OPHR  by 
sperma." 

The  formation,  described  in  the  third  chapter,  of  the  female 
human  being  out  of  one  of  the  ribs  of  Adam,  excised  for  that 
purpose  (which  is  a  matter  of  almost  universal  popular  belief), 
is  not,  in  reality,  what  is  stated  in  the  original.  In  verse  21 
of  chapter  ii.  the  words  are  rendered  in  our  version,  "And 
he  took  one  of  his  ribs."  What  is  really  said,  however,  is 
"  And  he  brought  out  another  one  from  his  sides."  So  the 
similar  expression  in  verse  22  in  reality  signifies,  "  caused  to 
be  made  according  to  womankind  the  individualized  sub- 
stance of  his  side." 

The  word  translated  "  of  his  ribs"  is  precisely  the  same  as 
is  subsequently  used  by  the  same  writer  (Exodus  xxxvii.  27) 
to  designate  the  location  of  the  supporting  rings  upon  an  altar 
of  incense,  and  is  there  rendered,  "  by  the  two  corners  of  it, 
upon  the  two  sides." 

The  defective  translation  is  due  to  imperfect  knowledge,  at 
that  time,  of  the  processes  of  organic  development.  The  true 
signification  is  that  given  in  the  "  Institutes  of  Manu"  : 
"  Having  divided  his  own  sub-sistence,  the  Mighty  Power 
became  half  male  and  half  female." 

The  words  rendered  "  help  meet"  in  verses  18  and  20  have 
a  far  higher  meaning;  "  I  will  make  him  a  help  meet"  should 
be  translated,  "  I  will  cause  to  be  made  for  him  an  overseeing 
help  as  a  guide,  an  instructor,  a  revealer."  And  in  verse  20 
of  chapter  iii.,  "And  Adam  called  his  wife's  name  Eve," 
the  latter  word  is  not  translated ;  the  correct  rendering  is, 
"And  Adam  called  the  symbolic  name  of  his  wife  the  female 
serpent-wise  revealer,  she  who  explains,  points  out  things,  who 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  335 

instructs,"  for  that  is  what  the  true  root-meaning  of  Eve 
signifies.  The  concluding  words  of  this  verse,  "  because  she 
was  the  mother  of  all  living,"  are  obviously  mistranslated,  for 
not  only  was  she  not  a  mother  at  all,  but  she  did  not  even 
conceive,  as  stated  in  the  next  chapter,  until  she  had  left  the 
garden  finally.  The  true  signification  is,  "  because  she  was 
the  mother  of  all  [spiritual,  see  verse  22,  as  contradistinguished 
from  animal  and  vegetable]  life." 

The  female  human  being,  the  word  translated  woman,  has 
the  generic  root-signification  of  "  flame,"  while,  prior  to  Eve, 
that  of  the  Adamic  man  is  the  "  red  earth."  As  the  male  was 
formed  from  a  material  earthly  essence,  the  female  was  created 
one  remove  further  from  the  gross  and  material  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  spiritual ;  and  her  powers  were  distinctively  sub- 
jective, those  of  intuition,  while  those  of  the  male  were  ob- 
jective, those  derived  from  instruction.  Even  in  the  final 
curse  (so  called)  the  man  turns  back  to  the  earth  to  earn  his 
subsistence,  while  the  woman  turns  forward  to  the  instruction 
of  the  future  men  and  women,  the  children ;  for  the  words, 
"In  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth  children,"  have  left  one 
word  of  the  original  untranslated,  and  by  supplying  this  the 
sense  is  entirely  changed,  "and  conceiving,  and  bringing 
forth,  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  up,  care  for,  and  train  chil- 
dren." In  those  countries  childbirth  was  never  attended 
with  much  pain  or  sorrow. 

The  obvious  effect  of  the  whole  inspired  or  traditionary 
second  narrative  is  to  clearly  differentiate  the  contrasted  facul- 
ties of  the  two  sexes,  and  the  root-meanings  of  the  words 
employed,  whether  Moses  himself  perceived  it  or  not,  are  a 
testimonial  of  the  highest  possible  character  for  woman, 
instead  of  being,  as  rendered  in  the  ordinary  versions,  a  mark 
of  inferiority,  or  even  of  degradation.  In  the  garden  scene, 
when  she  partook  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  she 
did  not  do  it  hastily  or  from  mere  temptation ;  it  is  said  that 
"  she  considered  it  attentively ;"  the  same  word  being  used 
as  was  employed  in  the  first  narrative  to  mark  the  intense 
interest  and  almost  superhuman  character  of  the  consider- 
ation by  the  Aleim  of  the  work,  as  its  successive  stages 


336     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

appeared,  which  they  were  delegated  to  perform,  and  which 
Jeove  himself  directed.  The  prize,  to  her,  far  outweighed  the 
penalty,  and  the  aspiring  sibyl  dared  to  lift  the  innermost 
veil  in  the  adytum  of  the  temple,  and  grasp  the  lofty 
truths  which  made  her  as  one  of  the  Aleim.  So  fell  Pro- 
metheus. 

And  then,  no  sooner  had  the  flame-crowned  seer  won  her 
precious  prize,  than,  woman-like,  she  turned  and  laid  it  before 
her  husband,  and  he,  the  innocent  one,  "  did  eat." 

The  serpent  was  not  a  mere  snake,  be  it  understood ;  it  was 
the  Egyptian  Typhon,  the  dark  Spirit  of  doubt,  the  questioner, 
the  tempter,  the  eternal  IF,  the  why,  whence,  what,  and 
whither  ? 

It  was  her  insatiable  aspiration  to  reach  the  highest  possi- 
ble limits  of  human  knowledge  which  gave  strength  to  her 
daring,  and  not  a  childish  fancy  for  an  apple.  All  this,  of 
course,  is  lost  in  the  translation.  It  is  as  though  the  national 
standard  of  a  mighty  people  had  been  disinterred  from  the 
remains  of  past  ages,  which  had  been  borne  aloft  at  the  head 
of  mighty  armies  for  centuries,  and  for  which  thousands  had 
gloriously  died  in  battle  in  defence  of  a  sacred  cause,  and 
which  now,  its  past  history  untraced,  has  been  catalogued  as  a 
brass  bird  of  some  sort  mounted  on  a  stick. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  no  plain,  popular  work 
by  a  thoroughly  capable  scholar,  without  theological  or  anti- 
theological  bias,  which  treats  of  the  origin,  form,  root-deri- 
vation, usage,  accurate  signification,  and  construction  of  the 
comparatively  few  words  employed  in  the  ancient  narratives 
which  compose  the  first  half-dozen  chapters  of  Genesis,  and, 
we  may  add,  the  book  of  Job;  something  like  those  in- 
estimable works  which  deal  with  the  ancient  cosmogonic  liter- 
ature of  Egypt,  Babylonia,  Persia,  India,  China,  Phoenicia,  and 
Central  America.  Nothing  of  this  sort  is  to  be  found,  at  all 
events  in  a  form  accessible  to  the  general  reader,  and  such  a 
work,  in  small  compass,  would  be  of  the  highest  importance 
to  popular  instructors,  to  students,  and  to  the  public  as  well, 
for  it  would  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  these  extremely  valuable 
but,  hitherto,  so  illy-comprehended  records. 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  337 

THE  MOSAIC  NARRATIVE  OF   CREATION. 

1.  ALEIM,  the  Forces,  fashioned  like  the  work  of  a  sculptor, 
in  the  commencement  of  individualized  existence,  the  indi- 
vidualized substance  of  the  heavens  and  the  individualized 
substance  of  the  earth. 

2.  And  the  earth  was  in  tomb-like   darkness  and  unde- 
veloped, and  there  was  compressive  hindering  darkness  on 
the  surface  of  undifferentiated  nature.     And  the  dilating  and 
liberating  Spirit  of  the  Forces  hovered  with  incubating  love 
on  the  surface  of  the  seeds  of  all  beings,  the  waters. 

3.  Then  Aleim  said,  There  shall  be  a  diffused  light ;  and  a 
diffused  light  was. 

4.  And  Aleim  regarded  with  attention  the  individualized 
substance  of  the  diffused  light,  because  good.     And  Aleim 
caused  a  separation  to  be  made  between  the  diffused  light 
and  between  the  compressive  hindering  darkness. 

5.  Then   Aleim   exclaimed  for  the  diffused  light,  DAY! 
and  for  the  compressive  hindering  darkness  exclaimed,  NIGHT  ! 
And  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness,  and  then 
there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  FIRST  DAY. 

6.  Then  Aleim  said,  There  shall  be  an  expansion  obtained 
by  a  thinning  in  the  center  of  the  waters,  and  there  was  that 
which  caused  a  separation  to  be  made  by  occupying  a  spot, 
the  waters  according  to  the  waters. 

7.  And  Aleim  made  the  individualized  substance  of  the 
expanse,  and  caused  a  separation  to  exist  by  the  occupation 
of  the  spot,  of  the  waters  which  are  under  as  regards  the 
expanse  of  space,  and  by  the  occupation  of  the  spot,  of  the 
waters  which  are  above  as  regards  the  expanse  of  space ;  and 
it  was  so. 

8.  Then  Aleim  exclaimed  for  the  expanse  of  space,  THE 
HEAVENS  !  and  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness, 
and  then  there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  SECOND  DAY. 

9.  And  Aleim  said,  The  waters  which  are  underneath  the 
heavens  will  tend  directly,  in  order  to  meet  in  it,  towards  a 
single  spot  fixed  upon  for  their  meeting ;  and  of  dryness  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  an  internal  fire  the  appearance  shall 
be  made ;  and  it  was  so. 

p        w  29 


338     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

10.  Then  Aleim  exclaimed  for  the  dryness,  EARTH  I   and 
for  the  spot  fixed  upon  for  the  meeting  of  the  waters  ex- 
claimed, SEAS  !    Then  Aleim  looked  attentively  at  it,  because 
good. 

11.  And  Aleim  said,  There  shall  be  made  to  grow  from  the 
earth  a  dwarf  vegetation  which  can  be  trodden  under  foot, 
a  maturing  plant  causing  to  be  sowed   around  it  a  seed, 
the  strong  and  woody  substance  of  fruit  making  fruit  after 
his  kind   whose  seed  is  in   itself  above  the  earth ;  and  it 
was  so. 

12.  And  there  was  caused  to  arise  suddenly  and  full  of 
strength  a  dwarf  vegetation,  a  maturing  plant  sowing  around 
it  seed  after  his  kind ;  and  the  woody  substance  yielding  fruit 
whose  seed  is  in  itself  after  his  kind.    Then  Aleim  considered 
it,  because  good. 

13.  And  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness,  and 
then  there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  THIRD  DAY. 

14.  Then  Aleim  said,  There  shall  be  starry- lights  in  the 
expanse  of  space  of  the  heavens  to  separate  between  the 
duration  of  the  day  and  between  the  duration  of  the  night  ; 
and  they  shall  be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  the  days 
which  make  the  year,  and  for  the  repetitions  of  years. 

15.  And  they  shall  be  for  luminous  bodies  in  the  expanse 
of  space  of  the  heavens  to  cause  light  to  move  above  the 
earth ;  and  it  was  so. 

16.  And  Aleim  made  a  double  individualized  substance,  the 
superior  in  size  and  excellence  of  the  starry-lights,  the  in- 
dividualized substance  which  was  the  greater  of  the  luminous 
bodies  to  represent  the  rule  of  the  day,  and  the  lesser  lumi- 
nous body  to  represent  the  rule  of  the  night. 

Of  the  dim  and  almost  extinct  lights  [the  stars]  they  made 
the  individualized  substance  also. 

17.  And  Aleim  established  these  individualized  substances 
in  the  expanse  of  space  of  the  heavens  to  make  light  move 
above  the  earth. 

18.  And  to  be  representatives  of  dominion  during  the  day 
and  during  the  night,  and  to  separate  between  the  continuance 
of  diffused  light  and  between  the  continuance  of  compressive 


THE  MOSAIC  COSMOGONY.  339 

hindering  darkness ;  then  Aleim  looked  attentively  at  it,  be- 
cause good. 

19.  And  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness,  and 
then  there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  FOURTH  DAY. 

20.  Then  Aleim  said,  The  waters  shall  bring  forth  a  swarm 
of  swarming  creatures  having  living  breath ;  and  that  which 
flies,  the  birds,  shall  be  made  to  fly  with  strength  and  fleet- 
ness  above  the  earth  in  the  space  extended  of  the  heavens. 

21.  And  Aleim  fashioned  like  the  work  of  a  sculptor  the 
individualized  substance  of  those  which  are  superior  in  size 
of  the  gigantic  reptiles  and  every  individualized  substance 
having  living  breath,  that  moveth,  which  they  had  produced, 
swarming  from  the  waters,  according  to  their  kind ;  and  every 
individualized  substance  of  flying  thing  with  wings,  after  his 
kind.    Then  Aleim  looked  attentively  at  it,  because  good. 

22.  And   Aleim   blessed  these  individualities  by  saying, 
propagate  your  species  and  multiply  yourselves,  and  fill  the 
individualized  substance  of  the  waters  in  the  seas ;  and  as  for 
the  flying  thing,  it  shall  multiply  itself  on  the  earth. 

23.  And  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness,  and 
then  there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  FIFTH  DAY. 

24.  Then  Aleim  said.  From  the  earth  shall  be  brought  forth 
the  living  breath  according  to  its  kind,  the  quadruped,  and 
the  being  which  moveth  about,  and  the  terrestrial  animal  ac- 
cording to  its  kind ;  and  it  was  so. 

25.  And  Aleim  made  the  individualized  substance  of  the 
animal  of  the  earth  according  to  his  kind,  and  the  individual- 
ized substance  of  the  quadruped  according  to  his  kind,  and 
every  individualized  substance  that  moveth  about  of   red 
earth  according  to  his  kind.    Then  Aleim  regarded  it,  because 
good. 

26.  Then  Aleim   said,  We  will  make  mankind  of  a  like 
order  of  intellect  with  ourselves,  and  they  shall  extend  their 
dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  bird  of  the 
heavens,  and  over  the  quadruped,  and  over  all  of  the  earth, 
and  over  all  the  moving  beings  that  move  about  over  the 
earth. 

27.  And  Aleim  fashioned  like  the  work  of  a  sculptor  the 


340     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

individualized  substance  of  mankind  in  the  exactness  of  a 
shadow  cast  upon  a  wall ;  on  this  shadow  Aleim  carved  the 
individuality  ;  male  and  female  they  fashioned  the  individual- 
ized substance. 

28.  Then  Aleim  blessed  the  individualized  substance.    And 
Aleim  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish 
the  individualized  substance  of  the  earth,  and  subdue  it,  and 
extend  your  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the 
birds  of  the  heavens,  and  over  all  life  of  the  being  which 
moveth  about  over  the  earth. 

29.  And  Aleim  said,  Behold  I  have  given  for  you  every  use- 
ful plant-substance  yielding  seed,  yielding  seed  which  there  is 
over  the  surface  of  all  the  earth,  and  every  individualized  sub- 
stance of  tree  which  has  in  it  fruit  pertaining  to  a  tree  yield- 
ing seed,  yielding  seed  for  you,  it  shall  be  for  food. 

30.  And  for  all  animal  life  of  the  earth-,  and  for  everything 
that  flies  in  the  heavens,  and  for  every  being  that  moveth 
over  the  surface  of  the  earth  which  has  in  it  living  breath, 
every  individualized  substance  which  is  a  green  maturing 
plant  shall  be  for  food.     And  it  was  so. 

31.  Then  Aleim  looked  at  every  individualized  substance 
which  they  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  as  good  as  possible. 
And  there  was  a  transition  from  light  to  darkness,  and  then 
there  was  a  renewal  of  light ;  SIXTH  DAY. 

(Chapter  ii.)      1.  Then   the  finishing  was   made  of  the 
heavens,  and  of  the  earth,  and  of  all  the  orderly  arrangement. 

2.  And  Aleim  [the   Forces]  finished   on  the  seventh  day 
the  divinely  appointed  and  directed  work  which  they  had  per- 
formed ;  and  they  came  again  to  a  state  of  rest  on  the  seventh 
day  from  all  the  appointed  work  which  they  had  done. 

3.  Then  Aleim  blessed  the  individualized  substance  of  the 
seventh  day  and  sanctified  it,  because  in  it  they  returned  to 
their  primitive  condition  from  all  the  divinely  appointed  and 
directed  work  which  the  Forces  had  fashioned  like  the  work 
of  a  sculptor,  in  accordance  with  the  making  of  creation. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CONCLUSION.  THE  HARMONY  OF  NATURE'S  LAWS  AND 
OPERATIONS. 

WE  have  passed  before  us  the  different  orders 
of  celestial  phenomena ;  we  have  called  down  the 
denizens  of  the  starry  skies  and  placed  them  on 
the  witness  stand,  and  we  have  interrogated  them 
in  the  light  of  the  evidence  which  they  have  given 
before;  we  have  compared  their  different  state- 
ments, and  have  found  that  in  their  testimony 
they  all  finally  agree.  Instead  of  confusion,  we 
find  order ;  instead  of  complexity,  simplicity ;  in- 
stead of  discord,  harmony;  and  through  all  we 
see  the  orderly  progress  of  nature  with  uniform 
step,  from  stage  to  stage,  higher  and  higher,  until 
at  last  she  stands  triumphant,  the  handmaid  of 
creative  power,  in  the  very  center  of  the  arch  of 
the  universe.  We  have  taken  the  simplest  opera- 
tions which  we  find  in  progress  around  us,  and 
have  extended  them  to  larger  operations,  con- 
stantly keeping  in  view  their  relevancy  and  the 
facts  which  form  their  sole  support.  Mere  specu- 
lation has  been  excluded,  and  theory  has  found  its 
every  step  based  on  an  established  fact.  In  this 
way  we  may  hope  to  make  place  for  farther  inves- 
tigation in  this  field  by  abler  minds,  and  that  the 
conclusions  of  science  may  then  become  so  well 

29*  341 


342      SOURCE  AND  MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

understood  and  so  firmly  established  that  to  go 
back  to  the  "  dead-and-dying"  theories  of  solar 
energies  will  be  like  going  back  to  Ptolemy  and 
Tycho  for  our  astronomy. 

We  have  considered  the  hypothesis  which  bases 
the  energy  of  our  sun  upon  his  inherent  heat, 
upon  combustion,  upon  the  accretion  of  meteoric 
streams,  and  upon  his  slow  and  gradual  condensa- 
tion of  volume;  and  have  found  that  all  these 
hypotheses,  singly  or  combined,  fail  to  account  for 
his  energy  through  the  vistas  of  the  past,  during 
which  we  know  he  must  have  shone  as  he  now 
shines,  and  fail  to  account  for  more  than  a  slow  but 
inevitable  decline,  in  the  relatively  near  future,  into 
eternal  darkness  and  death.  We  have  found  that 
all  these  theories  are  alike,  in  that  they  recognize 
the  sun  itself  as  the  only  source  of  his  energy,  that 
his  enormous  emission  of  light  and  heat  is  almost 
entirely  wasted  in  empty  space,  and  that  this  will 
go  on  with  the  same  frightful  waste  until  he  has 
squandered  his  whole  patrimony  and  ends  his  mel- 
ancholy career  in  the  poor-house  or  the  dungeon. 
We  have,  however,  seen  that  even  this  will  not 
save  the  wretched  client,  for  he  has  already  spent 
far  more  than  he  ever  could  have  received  origi- 
nally by  inheritance,  and  far  more  than  he  could 
have  gained  by  gifts  pitched  in  in  bulk — like  the 
poor  colored  brother's  potatoes — through  the  win- 
dow. 

We  have  therefore  gone  over  the  case  anew,  and 
have  learned  that  enormous  electrical  currents  are 
constantly  passing  between  the  earth  and  the  sun, 


CONCLUSION.  343 

with  practically  no  resistance,  and  this  irrespective 
of  any  hypothesis,  actual  or  possible;  and  these 
facts  have  solved  at  the  outset  one  of  the  greatest 
conceivable  difficulties, — to  wit,  that  of  the  trans- 
mission through  space  of  such  essential  currents. 
Turning  our  attention  to  the  more  recent  advances 
in  electricity  and  the  arts  of  electrical  construction, 
we  have  found  that  induction  machines,  as  contra- 
distinguished from  the  older  friction  machines, 
operate  in  a  manner  strongly  suggestive  of  the 
rotation  of  a  planet  through  space,  and  we  learn 
that  the  electrical  potential  of  the  air  overhead 
increases  constantly  by  an  enormous  multiplying 
number  as  we  ascend,  proving  great  electrical  ac- 
tion in  the  regions  immediately  surrounding  the 
earth,  and  which  we  have  called  the  terrestrial  elec- 
trosphere.  We  have  also  found  that  sun-spots 
and  solar  storms  and  other  disturbances  are  at 
once  reflected  in  our  earth-currents,  and  are  fol- 
lowed immediately  by  great  electrical  disturbances 
here  and  by  extensive  auroral  displays  at  night. 
Experiment  shows  that  similar  auroral  displays 
may  be  produced  with  an  electrical  machine  by 
interruption  of  the  current  leading  to  its  principal 
condenser,  thus  demonstrating  that  the  currents 
are/rom  the  earth  to  the  sun,  and  not  the  converse. 
We  have  also  found  that  while  the  solar  atmos- 
phere is  largely  composed  of  hydrogen  gas,  that  of 
the  earth  and  other  planets  is  largely  composed  of 
oxygen,  and  that  these  gases,  the  constituents  of 
water,  are  separately  disengaged  at  the  opposite 
electrical  poles  by  the  electrolytic  action  of  a  pow- 


344     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

erful  current  of  electricity  applied  to  the  decom- 
position of  aqueous  vapors,  in  accordance  with  the 
established  electrical  law  that  any  fluid  which  will 
transmit  a  current  may  be  decomposed  by  it; 
hence  we  learn  that  our  interplanetary  space  con- 
tains attenuated  aqueous  vapors,  which  we  have 
also  learned  to  be  true  from  other  sources.  As 
our  other  planets,  as  well  as  the  earth,  are  found 
to  be  surrounded  with  an  atmosphere  of  dilute 
oxygen,  and  with  aqueous  vapors  suspended  in  it, 
we  know  that  their  action  upon  the  sun  must  be 
similar  to  that  of  the  earth,  and  that  the  congeries 
of  planets  thus  unite  in  their  supply  of  electricity 
to  the  sun  in  constant  and  enormous  currents. 
Examining  now  the  effects  of  passing  powerful 
electrical  currents  through  a  compressed  envelope 
of  hydrogen  gas  surrounding  a  conductor,  we  find 
that  great  heat  ensues,  that  the  hydrogen  becomes 
highly  incandescent,  and  that  the  metallic  nucleus 
within  is  raised  to  an  extremely  high  temperature, 
and  we  also  observe  the  same  effects  when  the  cur- 
rent is  transmitted  through  the  separated  carbons 
of  an  electrical  arc  light.  We  have  thus  accounted 
for  the  constant  supply  of  the  energy  which,  trans- 
formed into  light  and  heat,  as  in  the  last-men- 
tioned experiments,  the  sun  pours  forth  perpetually 
into  space.  We  have  also  learned  that  electrical 
induction  machines  derive  their  electrical  currents 
from  the  surrounding  air,  and  also  that  no  elec- 
tricity can  be  generated  in,  or  transmitted  through, 
a  vacuum,  and  hence  we  learn  that  the  planets,  by 
the  rotation  of  their  electrospheres  in  contact  with 


CONCLUSION.  345 

the  attenuated  vapors  of  space,  generate  these  pow- 
erful electrical  currents  with  which  the  sun  is  sup- 
plied, and  that  the  sun  merely  restores  to  the  ocean 
from  which,  in  another  form,  it  was  abstracted  the 
light  and  heat  which  he  emits,  and  that,  instead  of 
all  being  wasted  except  that  which  falls  upon  the 
planets,  in  fact-  that  is  the  only  part  which  actu- 
ally, in  one  sense  at  least,  is  wasted :  all  the  rest 
is  deposited  in  bank,  but  that  is  "  spent."  The  im- 
portant generalization  is  thus  arrived  at,  that  the 
true  source  of  solar  energy  is  to  be  found  in  the 
attenuated  vapors  of  space,  and  that  the  mode  is 
that  of  the  generation  of  electricity  by  the  rotating 
planetary  electrospheres,  its  transference  through 
the  aqueous  vapors  of  interplanetary  space  to  the 
sun,  its  passage  under  resistance  through  the  com- 
pressed hydrogen  envelope,  its  transformation 
there  into  light  and  heat,  and  its  final  emission 
or  backpouring  into  space  again.  The  molecular 
motions  which  give  rise  to  light  and  heat  in  their 
passage  through  the  vast  distances  of  space  are 
finally  retarded  by  and  disappear  as  radiated  en- 
ergy in  the  restoration  or  increase  of  the  inter- 
molecular  tension  of  the  vapors  of  space,  and  these 
processes  continue,  and  must  continue,  to  all  eter- 
nity, if  the  sun  exists  and  his  planets  continue  to 
revolve  in  orderly  circuit  around  him.  If  there 
be  any  permanent  degradation  of  energy,  it  must 
be  with  reference  to  the  total  volume  of  infinite, 
or  at  least  indefinite,  space,  and  not  with  reference 
to  the  relatively  minute  spark  of  fire  which  we 
call  the  sun.  We  have  also  learned  that  the 


346      SOURCE  AND   MODE   OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

moon's  electrosphere  is  repelled  by  that  of  its 
neighbor,  the  earth,  and  that  whatever  vapor  and 
atmosphere  it  may  have  can  exist  only  on  its  oppo- 
site_side ;  and  we  have  also  learned  that,  by  reason 
of  the  moon's  peculiar  axial  rotation  with  reference 
to  the  earth,  any  other  arrangement  of  the  lunar 
moisture  and  air,  even  if  such  were  possible,  would 
have  absolutely  prohibited  all  life  on  that  subordi- 
nate planet  at  any  stage  of  its  existence  whatever. 
We  have  applied  the  above  principles  to  the  fixed 
stars,  and  have  learned  that,  by  the  same  law,  the 
resplendent  star  itself  is  proof  conclusive  that  it, 
too,  must  have  planets  rotating  around  it,  and  that 
these  planets  must  have  an  oxygen  atmosphere 
and  clouds  of  aqueous  vapor  like  our  own.  We 
have  interpreted  the  double  and  multiple  stars, 
and,  by  an  extension  of  the  same  law,  explained 
their  frequently  contrasted  or  complementary 
colors.  The  new  stars  which  blaze  up  in  sudden 
conflagration  and  then  die  out  have  no  secrets 
when  this  new  light  is  turned  upon  them ;  they, 
too,  are  but  the  faithful  followers  of  the  law ;  and 
the  temporary  and  variable  stars  likewise  fall  into 
their  appropriate  categories  and  obediently  move 
on  with  the  procession.  The  comets,— the  banner- 
bearers  of  the  sidereal  hosts, — which  from  the 
earliest  ages  have  defied  science  to  read  their  cab- 
alistic legend,  find  it  now  "  writ  large"  and  in 
plain  English.  Even  the  meteorites,  the  cosmical 
dust,  the  unorganized  d&bris  of  space,  are  found  to 
be  amenable  to  the  same  law.  When  we  turn  in 
wider  gaze  to  spy  out  the  fantastic  nebulse  on  the 


CONCLUSION.  347 

very  outer  fringe  of  visible  things,  after  we  have 
separated  out  the  star-clusters  and  organized  gal- 
axies of  suns,  we  apply  our  touchstone  to  the  irre- 
solvable gaseous  nebulae,  and  lo !  their  mystery 
dissolves  at  a  touch.  We  have  even  been  able  to 
picture  the  processes  of  the  creation  of  solar  sys- 
tems and  whole  galaxies  of  suns  in  which  the 
same  law  finds  scope,  and  by  its  infinite  and  har- 
monious extension  we  learn  that  nature  moves 
with  a  comprehensive  plan,  and  is  uniform  in  her 
infinite  variety  and  eternal  in  her  ceaseless  ac- 
tivity. We  have  been  told  that— 

"  The  poem  of  the  universe 

No  rhythm  has  nor  rhyme  ; 
Some  god  recites  the  wondrous  song, 
A  stanza  at  a  time. ' ' 

But  it  is  all  a  mistake ;  the  loftiest  strains  which 
ever  inspired  the  soul  of  Mozart  or  of  Beethoven 
had  not  the  ineffable  harmony,  nor  the  sweetest 
songs  of  the  greatest  poets  the  perfect  rhyme,  ever 
repeated  and  ever  varied,  of  the  universe.  Its  or- 
derly progress  is  like  the  onward  movement  of  a 
mighty  army,  and  there  is  but  one  grand  com- 
mander, "  but  one  God,"  and  Nature,  that  showeth 
forth  his  handiwork,  "  is  his  prophet."  We  have 
found  that  the  "  course  of  nature,"  the  eternally 
youthful  mother,  is  the  same,  whether  in  spinning 
a  tendril  in  the  garden,  in  weaving  a  whirlwind  in 
the  atmosphere,  or  in  elaborating  from  the  uni- 
versal vapors  of  primordial  space  a  solar  system  or 
a  galaxy.  And  it  is  not  a  convulsive,  spasmodic 


348     SOURCE  AND  MODE  OF  SOLAR  ENERGY. 

nature  that  we  find ;  we  do  not  love  to  associate 
great  explosions,  cataclysms,  the  destruction  of 
worlds,  or  the  extinction  of  suns  with  our  ideas 
of  nature.  These  seem  not  to  be  of  nature.  The 
nature  we  love  is  the  gentle  mother,  uniform  in 
her  operations,  kindly  in  her  ways,  beneficent  in 
her  results ;  the  nature  of  the  rain,  the  sunshine, 
seed-time  and  harvest  and  the  sprouting  seed 
again ;  ever  patient,  ever  responsive,  but  in  all  as 
firm  and  steadfast  as  the  foundations  of  eternity 
itself.  So  we  have  found  her.  We  have  assumed 
nothing ;  we  have  observed  and  endeavored  to  de- 
duce from  observation  her  systematic  plan,  for  this 
is  the  voice  of  her  law,  "the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  forever."  To  quote  the  words  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  from  out  the  darkness  of  the  past  we  seem 
to  hear  her  say, — 

"  Will  ye  claim  for  your  great  ones  the  gift 
To  have  rendered  the  gleam  of  my  skies  ? 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Race  after  race,  man  after  man, 
Have  thought  that  my  secret  was  theirs, 

****** 
— They  are  dust,  they  are  changed,  they  are  gone ! 
I  remain." 


REFERENCE  INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED. 


Appleton's  Cyclopaedia,  pp.  21,  48,  49,  52,  56,  107,  131,  134,  148,  155, 
156,  159,  162,  168,  181,  188,  200,  207,  262,  264,  267,  270,  294. 

ARGYLE,  319. 

ARNOLD  (Matthew),  348. 

AUGUSTINE  (Saint),  329. 

AYRTON,  77. 

BALL,  9,  28,  34,  35,  39,  41,  48,  51,  54,  58,  81,  63,  79,  82,  128, 139,  158, 
163,  170,  193,  206,  207,  216,  239,  241,  243,  245,  256,  266,  270,  272. 

BEETHOVEN,  347. 

Bible,  308,  327,  329,  330,  332,  333,  334,  337-340. 

BODE,  287. 

BRAKE  (Tycho),  179,  342. 

British  Association,  206. 

BUPFON,  21. 

BYRON,  152. 

CARRINGTON,  59,  75. 

CLARK,  258. 

COPERNICUS,  80. 

CROOKES,  232,  297,  298. 

CROWELL,  28. 

D'ARREST,  257. 

DARWIN  (Charles),  28. 

DEWAR,  213. 

DRAPER  (Dr.),  4,  7,  214,  217. 

DULONG,  215. 

DUNKIN  (Prof.),  133,  159,  163. 

Egyptian  cosmogony,  316. 

"  Electrical  Review,"  85. 

"  Electricity  in  the  Service  of  Man,  "  70,  74,  77,  83,  90,  91-94,  95,  105, 
132,  176,  225,  233. 

EMERSON,  248. 

English  version  of  Bible,  311. 

Ethiopia  sources,  316. 

FARADAY,  123,  132,  227. 

FERGUSON,  132. 

FLAMMARION,  9,  238,  263,  305. 

FLEMING  (Prof.  J.  A.),  83. 

FLIGHT  (Dr.),  232. 

FONTANELLE,  24. 

FOSTER  (Prof.),  78. 
FOWNES,  215,  216. 
FRAUNHOPER,  9,  87,  153. 

30  349 


350     REFERENCE  INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED, 

GATHMANN  (Prof.),  135. 
GEIKE,  28. 
GOETHE,  145. 

GROOMBRIDGE,  63,  246,  249. 
GUILLEMIN,  273,  285,  304,  305. 
GUYOT  (Prof.  Arnold),  316,  319,  325. 
HALE  (George  E.),  58. 
HAMILTON,  124,  227. 
HAUSEN,  122. 

HELMHOLTZ,  9,  21,  23,  28,  31,  140,  288. 
HERSCHEL  (Alexander),  140. 
HERSCHEL  (Sir  John),  229,  304. 

HERSCHEL  (Sir  William),  9,  35,  58,  80,  148,  199,  239,  257,  258. 
HERTZ,  79. 
HIND,  257,  258. 
HODGSON,  75. 
HOLTZ,  94. 

HUGGINS,  9,  55,  61,  79,  109,  158,  163,  181,  205,  212,  213,  214,  216,  217, 
235,  254,  255,  258. 
HUYGENS,  265. 
Indian  sources,  316. 
JANSSEN,  49. 
JOUVENCEL  (De),  318. 
KANT,  35. 
KELVIN  (Lord),  38. 
KEPLER,  80. 
KIRCHER,  329. 
KIRCHHOPP,  53,  77. 
LANGLEY,  9,  29,  33,  48,  58, 113. 
LAPLACE,  35,  269,  275,  278,  279,  280,  309. 
LIVEING  (Prof.),  213. 
LOCKYER,  49,  285,  305. 
Looms,  108. 
LYELL  (Sir  Charles),  28. 
"  Mankind :  their  Origin  and  Destiny,"  314. 
McCosH(Dr.),  317,  318. 
McGEE,  28. 
MANN,  334. 

Masoretic  pointing,  311. 
MAYER,  21. 
MELCONI,  149. 

MILLER,  9,  26,  122,  158,  200,  204,  248. 
Mosaic  narrative,  310,  337-340. 
MOSES,  313,  315,  330,  332,  334. 
MOTT  (A.),  39. 
MOZART,  347. 

MYER  (Gen.  A.),  9,  55,  56. 
NEWCOMB,  9,  34,  270. 
NEWTON,  21,  80,  228,  241,  280. 

NICHOL,  9,  80,  164,  188,  238,  262,  263,  265,  278,  279. 
PERRY,  77. 
PETIT,  215. 

PICKERING  (Prof.),  258. 
"  Popular  Science  Monthly,"  57,  113. 


REFERENCE  INDEX  OF  AUTHORITIES  CITED.      351 

PROCTOR,  9,  24,  27,  35,  36,  37,  45,  46,  47,  51,  75,  78,  80,  97,  99,  108, 
111,  145,  156,  157,  159,  166,  179, 182,  184,  191,  199,  200,  201,  204,  206, 
207,  212,  220,  224,  231,  232,  234,  237,  253,  255,  258,  299,  302. 

PTOLEMY,  342. 

PYTHAGORAS,  329. 

RAWLINSON  (Prof.  George),  359. 

ROSSE  (Lord),  9,  188,  255,  261,  266,  279. 

ROUGE  (M.de),  316. 

ROWLAND  (Prof.),  61. 

RUPERT  (Prince),  295. 

SALISBURY  (Lord),  38,  69. 

SCHIAPARELLI,  200. 

SCHMIDT  (Dr.),  258. 

SCHROTER,  134. 

SCHUSTER  (Dr.),  79. 

SECCHI,  156,  157. 

SEEBECK,  149. 

Septuagint,  334. 

SIEMENS,  21,  36,  37,  53. 

SMYTH  (Admiral),  163. 

SPENCER  (Herbert),  270. 

STEWART  (Balfour),  7,  140,  141, 142,  145,  146,  152. 

STRUVE  (0.),  257. 

TAIT,  38,  204. 

TENNYSON,  198,  268. 

THEOPHILUS,  329. 

THOMSON  (Sir  William),  25,  26. 

TOEPLER,  95. 

TYNDALL,  9,  104,  123,  146,  148,  149,  227. 

UPHAM,  28. 

URBANITSKY,  9,  70. 

VOGEL,  170. 

Voss,  94,  233,  290. 

WATERSTON,  21. 

WELDON  (Charles),  347. 

WILSON,  123,  227. 

WIMSHURST,  94, 132. 

WOLCOTT  (Prof.  C.  D.),  28. 

WOLF,  107. 

WRIGHT  (Arthur  W.),  52. 

YORK  (J.  F.),  316. 

YOUNG  (Prof.  Charles  A.),  9,  53. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 


ASTRONOMY. 

Largely  an  empirical  science,  hitherto,  9. 

New  light  on  the  phenomena  of,  68,  250,  341. 

Review  of  subject-matter  of  the  present  work,  341-348. 

Speculative,  excluded,  341. 

Interpretation  of  the  mysteries  of,  348. 

ATMOSPHERE. 

Atmosphere  of  sun  composed  principally  of  free  hydrogen,  39,  61. 

Free  oxygen  the  characteristic  element  in  earth's  atmosphere,  39. 

Mott's  theory  to  account  for  absence  of  hydrogen  in  earth's  atmos- 
phere untenable,  39-44. 

No  theory,  hitherto,  has  accounted  for  the  solar  hydrogen,  44. 

Aqueous  vapors  in  planetary  atmospheres,  whence  derived,  46,  62. 

Aqueous  vapors  diffused  through  interplanetary  space,  46,  65. 

Aqueous  vapors  diffused  through  interstellar  space,  65. 

Composition  of  the  terrestrial  atmosphere,  47. 

Composition  of  the  solar  atmosphere,  48. 

Composition  of  the  planetary  atmospheres,  62. 

Aqueous  vapors  around  the  sun,  62. 

Two  grand  categories  of  heavenly  bodies,  one  with  atmospheres 
characterized  by  free  hydrogen  and  the  other  with  atmospheres 
characterized  by  free  oxygen,  62. 

Atmospheres,  either  electrically  positive  or  negative,  of  hydrogen 
or  oxygen,  universal  for  all  the  bodies  of  space,  65. 

Solar  and  cometic  bodies  have  atmospheres  of  the  hydrogen  class, 
highly  heated ;  planetary  atmospheres  are  of  the  oxygen  class, 
and  are  cool,  66. 

Solar  and  planetary  atmospheres  are  mutually  correlated,  and  pro- 
duced by  disassociation  of  the  elements  of  aqueous  vapors,  67. 

"  No  sun  no  planets  :  no  planets  no  sun,"  69. 

Rapid  increase  of  electrical  potential  as  we  ascend  through  the 
earth's  atmosphere,  74. 

Its  significance,  74,  75. 

Sun-spots,  terrestrial  electricity  and  magnetism,  and  auroras,  con- 
nected with  one  another,  77. 

A  material  medium,  besides  the  luminiferous  ether,  exists  between 
earth  and  sun,  81. 

The  medium  consists  of  attenuated  aqueous  vapors  commingled  with 
other  vaporized  elements,  81. 

The  processes  of  formation  of  solar  and  planetary  atmospheres  from 
these  vapors,  82,  308. 

Incandescence  of  solar  and  cool  state  of  planetary  atmospheres  ex- 
plained, 83-85. 

x  30*  353 


354      CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

ATMOSPHERE— (Continued.) 

Contraction  and  expansion  of  sun's  semi- vaporous  condensed  nucleus 
a  self-compensating  mechanism  for  the  regulation  of  his  light 
and  heat,  88,  106. 

Identity  of  atmospheric  aurora  and  electrical  brush-light  discharge, 
90,  91. 

Rotating  electrosphere  of  the  earth,  96. 

Dimensions  of,  96. 

Resistance  of  atmosphere  considered,  97,  100. 

Principles  concerned  in  the  generation  and  maintenance  of  atmos- 
pheres, 100-106. 

Currents  in  space ;  their  influence  on  planetary  and  solar  electro- 
spheres,  106-107. 

No  visible  atmosphere  on  the  moon,  122. 

Atmosphere  and  aqueous  vapors  must  exist  on  the  moon's  surface, 
but  can  exist  only  on  opposite  side,  123. 

Lunar  atmosphere  and  axial  rotation  considered  with  reference  to 
''Argument  of  Design,"  122-128. 

Habitability  of  the  other  planets,  128-136. 

Atmosphere  of  Mars  analyzed  and  computed,  130-132. 

Atmospheres  of  Jupiter,  Neptune,  the  moon,  etc.,  132. 

Method  of  computing  the  atmosphere  of  any  known  planet,  131-134. 

Estimation  of  oxygen  in  different  planetary  atmospheres,  133. 

A  slight  libration  of  the  moon's  atmosphere  around  its  margin  pro- 
duced by  counteractive  angular  effect  of  solar  attraction  and 
repulsion  of  the  earth's  electrosphere,  and  its  result,  133-136. 

Vegetation  said  to  have  been  observed  on  lunar  surface  at  margin 
of  this  libration,  134-135. 

Aqueous  vapors  of  space  considered  with  reference  to  thermal  light 
of  the  sun,  147. 

Spectroscopic  analysis  of  atmospheres  of  the  stars,  156-161. 

Interpretation  of  complementary  colors  of  double  stars,  163. 

Mutual  repulsion  of  similarly  electrified  atmospheres,  124,  166-167. 

Variability  of  regularly  variable  stars  produced  by  dynamic  action 
of  their  planets,  168. 

Atmospheres  of  temporary  stars,  "  suns  in  flames,"  195. 

Effect  upon  planetary  atmospheres  of  our  system  Should  our  sun  be- 
come such  a  "  new  star,"  196-198. 

Atmospheres  of  comets,  205,  212. 

Atmospheric  repulsion  of  sun  and  comet,  210. 

Atmospheric  attraction  between  planets  and  comets,  211. 

Cyanogen  as  an  element  of  cometic  atmospheres,  216,  218. 

Decomposition  of  cyanogen  into  non-toxic  substances  by  contact  of  a 
comet  with  a  planetary  atmosphere,  218-219. 

Temperature  of  cometic  atmosphere,  218. 

Repulsion  of  cometic  atmosphere  by  the  sun's  electrosphere,  231,  235. 

Development  of  planetary  atmospheres  during  coalescence  of  rup- 
tured convolutions  of  a  spiral  nebula  into  spheres,  291. 

The  attenuated  vapors  of  space,  297-298. 

The  square-shouldered  aspect  of  Saturn's  atmosphere,  first  noticed 
by  Herschel,  explained,  302.  (See  also  Fig.  4,  page  124.) 

Barometric  pressure  of  earth's  atmosphere  highest  in  the  temperate 
zones ;  its  interpretation,  303. 

Application  of  same  principle  to  sun-spots,  303. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER.      355 

ATMOSPHERE— (Continued.) 

Should  present  atmospheres  be  conceived  to  be  obliterated,  new 
planetary  and  solar  atmospheres  would  be  generated  precisely 
similar  to  those  which  now  exist,  308-309. 

Solar  light  and  heat  would  again  be  re-established,  309. 

Atmospheres  in  their  characteristic  elements  all  due  to  electrolytic 
decomposition,  343,  344. 

BIOLOGY. 

Compared  with  astronomy,  10. 
Splendid  advances  in,  during  past  few  years,  15. 
Laws  of,  as  related  to  those  of  astronomy,  247. 
Mosaic  cosmogony  as  related  to,  320. 

Order  of  succession  in  the  introduction  of  life,  according  to  the  Mosaic 
narrative.  (See  latter  title  in  Index.) 

CHEMISTRY. 

Hydrogen  of  solar  photosphere  and  chromosphere,  39. 

Oxygen  in  earth's  atmosphere,  45-47. 

Chemical  elements  in  the  sun,  47,  61. 

Absence  of  free  oxygen  in  the  sun,  47,  69. 

Absence  of  free  oxygen  in  comets,  62. 

Elements  found  in  comets,  62,  212,  218. 

Olefiant  gas  in  comets,  207,  232. 

Hydrogen,  carbon,  sodium,  and  cyanogen,  213,  214. 

Carbon  and  hydrogen  compared,  214,  217,  260. 

Reactions  of  cyanogen,  217. 

Decomposition  of  cyanogen  by  contact  of  comets  with  a  planetary 

atmosphere,  218,  219. 
Gases  occluded  in  meteorites,  232. 
Laws  of  crystallization,  247. 
Chemistry  of  gaseous  nebulae,  254-262. 
Nitrogen,   hydrogen,  and   (most    probably)    oxygen  in  all  gaseous 

nebulae,  254. 

Possibly  a  more  elemental  condition  of  gases  in  nebulae,  259. 
Ammonium  a  hypothetical  inorganic  radical,  259. 
Bright-line  spectrum  of  gaseous  nebulae,  267. 
Chemical  changes  during  progression  of  spiral  nebulae,  287-292. 
Oxidation  of  terrestrial  mass  during  coalescence,  292. 
Phenomena  of  nature,  299,  341. 

COMET. 

Some  of  the  phenomena  of,  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  elec- 
tricity, 7. 

Hydrogen  and  nitrogen  in  comets,  but  no  oxygen,  62. 

Description  of  the  phenomena  of  comets,  200,  203,  210. 

Trains  of  meteors  follow  track  of  comets,  203-204,  206-207,  232. 

Formation  of  envelopes  and  tails,  205,  220. 

Olefiant  gas  in  comet  and  meteorite,  207,  232. 

Electrical  repulsion  of  comets'  tails,  208,  225-231. 

Mass  and  tenuity  of  comets,  209,  223. 

Opposite  electrical  polarity  of  comets  and  planets,  and  similar 
polarity  of  sun  and  comets,  211,  233,  236. 


356      CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

COMET — (Continued.) 

Spectra  of  comets,  213. 

Hydrogen  compounds  in  comets,  213. 

Temperature  of  cometic  nucleus,  218. 

Keversal  of  polarity  of  comet  by  contact  with  a  planetary  electro- 
sphere,  233-234. 

Comets  most  frequently  without  tails,  222,  281. 

Interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  comets,  235. 

Repulsion  of  comets'  tails  illustrating  phenomena  of  gaseous  nebulae, 
280, 

Many  comets  transcend  that  of  Newton  in  dimensions  of  their  tails, 

Origin  of  comets  by  excessive  repulsion  from  the  nebular  matter  of 

a  forming  solar  system,  289. 
Phenomena  of  comets  in  accordance  with  universal  laws  governing 

celestial  bodies,  346. 

COSMOLOGY. 

According  to  previously  accepted  views  the  visible  order  of  creation 
must  result  in  a  final  failure,  18. 

Possible  termination  of  present  cycle  of  terrestrial  life  and  possible 
renewal,  198. 

Solar  systems  not  necessarily  individual  creations,  165. 

The  word  "  creation"  as  rendered  in  our  version  of  the  Bible,  320. 

Mosaic  narrative  (see  this  title  in  Index),  337-340. 

Mosaic  cosmogony  does  not  exclude  prior  material  space,  320. 

Original  creation  out  of  nothing  forms  no  part  of  the  Mosaic  or  of 
other  primitive  cosmologies,  320,  329,  330. 

Nebular  hypothesis  not  in  accordance  with  Mosaic  account  of  crea- 
tion, 327. 

Knowledge  of  cosmology  among  the  ancients,  328,  329. 

Ancient  Egyptian  cosmogony,  316. 

Ancient  Syriac  cosmology,  330. 

Second  Mosaic  narrative  (the  garden  of  Eden),  334-336. 

Literal  translation  of  the  Mosaic  record  of  the  creation,  337-340. 

Review  of  the  system  of  cosmology  embraced  in  the  present  work, 
341-348. 

The  harmony  of  nature's  operations,  341. 

Universal  cataclysms  contrary  to  nature,  347,  348. 

ELECTRICITY. 

Electrical  connection  between  earth  and  sun,  7. 

Mere  currents  can  play  no  part  in  the  grander  operations  of  nature,  8. 

Repulsion  by  the  sun  of  the  solar  corona,  55,  61. 

Electricity,  the  universal  source  of  repulsion,  compared  with  gravity 

and  affinity,  the  universal  sources  of  attraction,  70. 
Electricity  considered  with  reference  to  solar  energy,  70,  343. 
Electrolysis,  70. 
Laws  of  electricity,  70. 

Currents  constantly  passing  between  earth  and  sun,  75. 
The  same  considered  in  detail,  75-76,  80,  343. 
Velocity  of  these  currents  equal  to  that  of  light,  77. 
Cannot  pass  through  vacua,  81. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER.      357 

ELECTRICITY— (Continued.) 

Heating  effect  of  electrolyzing  current,  83,  344. 

Arc  lamp,  83-84. 

Intense  heat  produced  by  current  under  water,  operating  through  a 
hydrogen  envelope  surrounding  a  conductor,  85. 

Electrical  induction  machines  described,  88-95,  344. 

Their  resemblance  to  rotating  planetary  electrospheres,  96,  345. 

Mutual  repulsion  of  similar  electrospheres,  123-125. 

Analogy  of  reflex  nervous  system  with  electrical  circuit,  136. 

Phenomena  of  variable  stars  due  to  more  or  less  concentrated  elec- 
tric currents  from  their  encircling  planets,  175. 

Variation  in  constitution  of,  and  currents  in  space  affect  the  planet- 
ary generation  of  electricity,  188-192. 

Electricity  between  adjacent  solar  systems,  194. 

Electrical  repulsion  of  the  tails  of  comets,  211,  235. 

Electricity  as  an  element  in  development  of  nebulae,  284-286. 

Electrical  repulsion  operates  to  drive  off  the  matter  of  future  comets 
from  condensing  nebulae,  289. 

HYPOTHESIS.     (See  Theory.) 

No  adequate  hypothesis,  hitherto,  to  account  for  continuance  of  solar 

energy  in  the  past,  17. 

General  statement  of  Laplace's  nebular  hypothesis,  12. 
The  nebular  hypothesis  has  not  been  proved,  35,  270-278. 
What  it  requires  for  its  basis,  97,  274-276. 
Correct  basis  for  hypothesis  of  solar  energy,  141-144,  286. 
Nebular  hypothesis  considered  in  detail,  268-278. 
Contrast  of  nebular  hypothesis  with  the  present  work,  306. 
The  Mosaic  cosmogony,  308. 

Nebular  hypothesis  deals  only  with  aggregations,  309-310. 
The  cosmogony  of  Genesis  more  scientific,  310. 
Origin  of  Mosaic  narrative,  310,  329-330. 
Egyptian  cosmogony,  316. 
Different  hypotheses  reviewed,  342. 
All  prior  theories  insufficient  to  account  for  the  facts,  342. 

LAW,  NATURAL. 

Some  general  law  must  control  astronomical  phenomena,  7. 

But  few  fixed,  controlling  laws  in  nature,  14. 

Natural  laws  eternal  in  their  operation,  18. 

Supremacy  of  natural  laws,  100. 

Gravitation  cannot  control  star-drift  in  space,  64. 

Universality  and  harmony,  but  not  identity  in  the  results  of  the 
operation  of  these  laws,  68. 

"A  more  wonderful  law  of  harmony  than  those  of  Copernicus,  Kep- 
ler, and  Newton,"  80. 

Indefinite  approaches  often  prelude  great  discoveries,  80. 

Laws  of  repulsion  and  attraction,  124—127. 

Harmony  among  all  the  solar  systems,  145,  153. 

Sphere  of  effective  control  under  gravity,  241. 

Universality  of  gravitation  has  been  doubted,  241-242. 

Demonstration  that  gravity  cannot  control  universally,  243-245. 

Proportionate  and  aggregate  attractions  between  systems,  244. 

Stars  traverse  space  without  reference  to  law  of  gravity,  246. 


358        CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

LAW,  NATURAL— (Continued.) 

A  higher  law  of  movement  indicated,  247,  249. 

Comparison  with  the  natural  laws  of  biology,  247. 

Laws  operate  constantly,  but  only  manifest  change  at  intervals,  248, 
283. 

The  drift  of  stars  through  space,  249. 

Interdependence  between  all  created  systems,  250-252. 
'    Astrology:  its  abandoned  beliefs  considered,  261. 

Attraction  and  repulsion  naturally  correlated,  280. 

Bode's  empirical  law  interpreted  by  development  of  the  solar  system 
from  a  spiral  nebula,  287. 

Arrest  of  moon's  axial  rotation,  293.. 

Laws  of  Laplace,  etc.,  294. 

Laws  of  movement  in  the  development  of  solar  systems,  298. 

Basis  of  human  knowledge,  299. 

Interpretation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  306-307. 

Operation  of  same  laws  which  produced  our  solar  and  planetary  at- 
mospheres would  reproduce  similar  ones  if  these  were  destroyed, 
308. 

Universality  of  natural  laws,  347,  348. 

MOSAIC  NARRATIVE. 

Moses  fully  acquainted,  by  initiation  into  the  priesthood,  with  the 
sacred  knowledge  of  the  Egyptians  (the  Hebrews  were  not),  310. 

The  Mosaic  record  more  scientific  than  the  Nebular  hypothesis,  310. 

Improperly  rendered  from  the  original  in  our  version,  310. 

Full  and  correct  translation  not  then  possible,  310. 

Hebrew  a  root-language,  and  not  original  or  inspired,  311. 

Indefiniteness  of  translation  in  our  version  illustrated,  311-312. 

Importance  of  accurate  rendering  of  the  words  of  the  original, 
313-314. 

Cannot  be  interpreted  by  writings  made  long  subsequently,  313. 

Correct  basis  of  a  true  rendering,  314. 

Use  of  the  important  words  of  the  original,  315. 

Jehovah  not  directly  mentioned  in  the  narrative;  the  work  was 
performed  by  specially  energized  natural  forces  operating  under 
guidance  of  a  higher  power,  315-316. 

Ancient  Egyptians  believed  in  one  supreme  God,  315. 

Also  the  Aryans  of  prehistoric  times,  316. 

The  cosmogony  of  the  Egyptians,  316. 

Dr.  McCosh  on  the  delegated  forces  of  God,  317-318. 

The  word  which  is  translated  "rested,"  318,  340. 

Analogy  of  volcanic  action  with  work  of  creation,  318. 

Professor  Guyot  on  the  meaning  of  "God  rested;"  the  forces  of 
nature  came  to  a  state  of  equilibrium,  319. 

Duke  of  Argyle  on  the  processes  of  creation  around  us  daily,  319. 

The  words  "  created"  and  "  made,"  in  verse  3,  chapter  ii,  not  properly 
rendered ;  popular  misconception  based  on  this  imperfect  ren- 
dering, 319. 

Signification  of  the  words  BRA,  OSH,  and  IEI,  320-323. 

Separation  of  waters  to  two  opposite  foci,  with  attenuated  space 
between,  324,  325,  329. 

The  above  separation  hitherto  misunderstood,  325. 

Better  known  to  the  ancients,  328,  329. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER.      359 

MOSAIC  NARRATIVE— (Continued.) 

Song  of  the  Three  Holy  Children,  the  Psalms,  Theophilus,  and  St. 

Augustine,  on  the  separation,  329. 
Introduction  of  vegetable  life  prior  to  appearance  of  free  oxygen  in 

earth's  atmosphere,  323-326. 
Jeove  as  contradistinguished  from  Aleim,  327. 
Mosaic  cosmogony  based  on  prior  attenuated  matter  of  space,  327.. 
Astronomical  knowledge  of  ancient  peoples,  329. 
Table  of  root-meanings  of  words  used  in  the  narrative,  330-333. 
Some  portions  of  the  second  narrative  examined,  333-336. 

NOTE. — The  second  narrative  bears  the  unmistakable  impress  of 
its  sacred  Egyptian  derivation ;  the  temptation  is  pictorially  rep- 
resented on  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Medinet-Abou,  at  Thebes, 
which  dates  from  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  while  Moses  was  con- 
temporary with  the  nineteenth.  Joseph  entered  Egypt  during  the 
Hyksos  period  preceding  the  eighteenth.  (Rawlinson,  "Ancient 
Egypt."  See  also  his  "  Ancient  Religions,"  for  Egyptian  mono- 
theism, last  three  pages  of  chapter  i.) 

Popular  need  of  a  more  accurate  translation  of  the  earlier  Script- 
ures, 336. 

The  narrative  of  creation  literally  translated,  337-340. 
Order  of  the  successive  introductions  of  life,  according  to  the  Mo- 
saic record:  1,  land  plants  ;  2,  marine  vegetation  (necessary  for 
sustenance  of  3) ;  3,  lower  forms  of  marine  life;  4,  reptiles  ;  5, 
birds  (between  reptiles  and  the  mammalia) ;  6,  mammals;  7, 
mankind,  male  and  then  female,  338,  339. 

NEBULA  (Gaseous). 

Hydrogen  and  nitrogen  in,  62,  216. 

Elongated  nebula  in  Sobieski's  Crown,  189. 

Gaseous  nebulae  affected  by  currents  in  space,  189. 

Oxygen  in  gaseous  nebulae,  216. 

Distribution  of  nebulae  in  space,  237-238,  262,  264. 

Herschel's  arrangement  of,  in  progressive  series,  239. 

Great  composite  nebula  in  Orion,  240,  255. 

Gaseous  nebulae  described,  253. 

Spectroscopic  analysis  of,  254—258. 

Changes  in  form  of  gaseous  nebulae,  256-258. 

Reversion  of  a  small  planetary  nebula,  258. 

Progressive  changes  in  nebulae,  258-259,  267. 

Analysis  of  drawings  of  gaseous  nebulae  of  Lord  Rosse,  261-262, 

265. 

Typical  forms  of  non-systemic  nebulae,  263. 
Crab  nebula,  265,  285. 

Number  of  gaseous  nebulae  already  recognized,  265. 
Spiral  figure  a  characteristic,  265,  266. 
All  spectra  of  gaseous  nebulae  show  bright  lines,  267. 
Development  into  solar  systems,  267,  283. 
Spiral  nebula  in  Canes  Venatici,  273. 

Series  of  spiral  nebulae  illustrating  progressive  advances,  279. 
Types  of  development,  frontispiece  and  legend  beneath. 
Comparison  of  spiral  nebula  with  a  jet  of  water,  285. 
Comparison  with  tail  of  a  comet  under  rotation,  285. 
Development  in  accordance  with  general  astronomical  laws,  346. 


360      CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

NEBULA— (Continued.) 

Convolutions  of  spiral  nebula  pyriform,  293. 
Origin  of  nebulae  from  the  matter  of  space,  295. 
Production  of  planetary  nebulae  by  mutual  repulsion,  301-302. 
Distances  of  gaseous  nebulae  hitherto  overestimated,  303,  304. 
Each  spiral  nebula  develops  into  a  single  solar  system,  304. 
Spiral  character  of  many  apparently  globular  nebulae  revealed  by 
telescopes  of  adequate  power,  304-305. 

PLANET. 

Those  of  our  own  system  resemble  each  other,  45,  67. 

Jupiter's  body  covered  with  clouds  and  invisible  to  us,  45. 

Saturn,  Venus,  Mars,  45. 

Surface  of  Mars  clearly  marked,  rarely  concealed  by  vapors,  45-46. 

The  planets  of  our  own  solar  system  the  only  ones  visible  to  us,  63. 

Every  self-luminous  star  must  have  planets  rotating  around  it,  63. 

Some  solar  systems  may  have  a  single  planet,  67,  171,  302. 

How  planets  generate  electricity  from  space,  88-89. 

No  visible  atmosphere  or  aqueous  vapor  on  moon,  122-136. 

Center  of  gravity  of  moon  apparently  displaced,  122. 

The  atmosphere  of  Mars,  its  constitution,  130-132. 

Planets  belonging  to  solar  systems  with  double  suns,  167-168. 

Angular  positions  of  planets  regulate  solar  energy,  176. 

Due  to  inclination  of  solar  axis,  119-122. 

Formation  of  planets  from  the  convolutions  of  spiral  nebulae,  286, 

289,  292. 

Abnormalities  of  planets  in  our  system  accounted  for,  286-287,  294. 
Formation  of  planetary  satellites  and  Saturn's  rings,  292-293. 
Formation  of  belt  of  asteroids,  294. 

SOLAR  ENERGY. 

Our  first  investigations  directed  to  phenomena  of  our  own  solar  sys- 
tem, 8. 

Successively  extended  to  other  bodies  of  space,  8. 

Simple  uniformly  acting  laws  which  control,  9. 

Different  theories  of,  hitherto  in  vogue,  17,  34. 

Gradual  degradation  of,  according  to  former  theories,  18. 

Primary  error  due  to  attributing  solar  energy  to  an  original  supply 
in  the  sun,  19. 

In  truth,  it  is  derived  from  the  rotation  of  the  surrounding  planets, 
65. 

Produced  by  electrical  currents  from' planetary  electrospheres,  83-86. 

Experiment  with  hydrogen  envelope  in  a  pail  of  water,  85,  344. 

Its  production  and  permanent  maintenance,  86,  88,  195. 

Its  mode  of  distribution,  139,  345. 

The  apparent  waste  not  real,  140,  345. 

Correct  statement  of  the  mode  of  production  and  distribution  of 
all  solar  energy,  141-145,  344-346. 

Discussion  of  the  light  and  heat  of,  147-152. 

Due  to  planetary  energy ;  evidence  from  the  variable  stars,  175,  346. 

Great  heat-wave  of  1892,  193. 

Illustration  of  solar  energy,  analogous  to  water-wheel,  251. 

True  final  source  of  solar  energy,  252,  345. 

Nebular  hypothesis  with  relation  to,  268-274. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER.      361 

SOLAR  ENERGY— (Continued.) 

Difficulties  of  nebular  hypothesis,  274-278. 

Spiral  nebulae  incompatible  with  nebular  hypothesis  of,  273-278. 

Splitting  up  of  gaseous  nebulae  by  internal  repulsion,  289. 

SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

Belief,  hitherto,  in  its  early  termination  in  eternal  darkness,  18. 

Constitution  of  our,  62. 

Drifting  through  space,  63. 

Suns  and  planets  mutually  correlated,  69. 

Electrical  connection  between  sun  and  planets,  79. 

Onl7  sraryfonnnr  Part  of  sun's  energy  received  by  our  planets,  139. 

Solar  system  of  variable  star  Mira,  177. 

Operation  of  solar  systems  perpetual,  198. 

No  operative  solar  system  could  be  built  up  from  meteorites,  199. 

Views  expressed  in  this  work  contrasted  with  former  theories.  250- 

251. 

Development  of  a  solar  system  from  a  spiral  nebula,  279. 
Genesis  of  solar  systems  from  the  primordial  elements  of  space,  282. 
Phenomena  of  the  development  of  solar  systems,  283. 
Mode  of  development  of  a  centripetal  planetary  solar  system  from  a 

centrifugal  spiral  nebula,  286. 
Mode  of  formation  of  the  asteroids,  288. 
Of  comets,  289. 

Disruptive  force  of  repulsion  in  a  gaseous  nebula,  289. 
Rupture  of  convolutions  preparatory  to  formation  of  planets,  290. 
Reversal  of  electrical  polarity  of  ruptured  convolutions,  290. 
Coalescence  into  separate  planets,  290-292. 
Periodicity  in  the  development  of  solar  systems,  300. 
Origin  of  single  planet  solar  systems,  171,  302. 

SPACE. 

Estimated  temperature  of,  82. 

Currents  in,  106,  187-189. 

Distribution  of  stars  in  space,  187. 

Universal  connection  between  all  bodies  of  space,  250. 

So-called  "  empty  space,"  295. 

Tensions  in  space,  295. 

Illustration  from  Prince  Rupert's  drops,  295-296. 

Constitution  of  space,  297. 

Unstable  equilibrium,  297-298. 

Apparently  blank  areas  of  space,  299. 

Our  present  space  eternal,  299. 

The  attenuated  vapors  of  space  the  source  of  all  created  things, 

299-300. 

The  domain  and  workshop  of  the  Infinite,  307. 
The  last  refuge  of  the  human  intellect,  307. 

SPECTROSCOPE. 

Absorption  bands  and  bright-line  spectrum,  155. 

Spectroscope  as  used  in  investigation  of  nebulae,  253. 

Applied  to  great  nebula  in  Orion,  256. 

Bright-line  spectra  in  all  gaseous  nebulae,  267.     (See  Chemistry, 

Star,  Sun.) 
Q  31 


362      CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

STAR. 

Distances  of  stars  in  space,  64,  244,  248. 

Our  sun  a  variable  star,  75,  179. 

Classification  by  their  spectra,  156-158. 

Betelgeuse,  159,  161. 

Double  stars,  162. 

Double  and  multiple  stars  of  complementary  colors,  162-164, 176, 305. 

Origin  of  double  stars,  164,  167,  305. 

Mizar,  165. 

Interpretation  of  phenomena  of  double  stars,  168. 

Variable  stars,  168. 

Regularly  variable  stars,  169. 

Algol,  169-173,  302. 

Planetary  system  of  Mira,  177. 

Delta  Cephei,  174. 

Variability  due  to  variable  dynamic  energy  of  planets,  119-122, 175. 

Phenomena  of  temporary  stars,  180-182. 

Insufficiency  of  previous  explanations  of,  183-186. 

True  causes  of,  187-196. 

Temporary  stars  usually  appear  in  certain  parts  of  the  heavens  only, 
192. 

Star-clusters,  240. 

Limits  and  structure  of  the  Milky  Way,  244. 

How  stars  travel  through  space,  249. 

Common  brotherhood  of  all  stars,  250. 

Correct  principles  of  interpretation  and   explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  stars,  346. 
SUN. 

Hitherto  accepted  belief  that  his  energies  are  dying  out,  18. 

Chemical  elements  in  the  sun,  47. 

Constitution  and  structure  of  the  sun,  48,  61. 

Prominences,  faculse,  sun-spots,  chromosphere,  photosphere,  corona, 
long  streamers,  solar  nucleus,  48-56. 

Sun-spots  travel  more  rapidly  across  the  solar  face  in  proportion  to 
their  distance  from  his  equator,  54,  59. 

General  Myer  on  sun's  corona,  56. 

Sun-spots  described,  56-59. 

Every  sun  must  have  planets  to  enable  it  to  give  out  light  and  heat, 
66. 

Sun-spots  and  terrestrial  electricity  and  magnetism,  75-76,  303. 

Eleven-year  period  of  sun-spots,  75. 

Operative  artificial  sun  ;  electrical  experiment,  86-87. 

Sun's  gaseous  or  partially  gaseous  body  a  self-compensating  mechan- 
ism to  distribute  and  equalize  his  energies,  88,  106,  199. 

Sun-spots  considered  with  reference  to  angular  positions  of  the  plan- 
ets, 107,  119-122,  155-156. 

Origin  and  development  of  sun-spots,  107-122. 

Our  sun  a  variable  star,  179. 

Repulsion  of  sun's  long  streamers,  166,  280. 

Cycles  of  life  on  the  planets  might  be  produced  by  successive  increases 
and  diminutions  of  sun's  radiant  energy,  197. 

Repulsion  of  the  tails  of  comets  by  solar  electrosphere,  211. 

Idea  of  a  universal  central  sun  untenable,  241. 

Importance  to  mankind  of  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  sun,  251. 


CLASSIFIED  INDEX  OF  SUBJECT-MATTER.      363 

THEORY.     (See  Hypothesis.) 

Various  previous  theories  to  account  for  solar  heat  and  light,  19. 

1,  sun  now  giving  out  the  heat  imparted  at  its  creation,  21. 

2,  that  its  volume  is  being  consumed  by  combustion  j  3,  that  its 

light  and  heat  consist  of  currents  of  electricity ;  4,  that  com- 
ets are  the  aliment  of  the  sun  ;  5,  that  the  supply  is  due  to 
accretion  by  meteoric  streams ;  6,  that  it  is  due  to  molecular 
condensation  from  contraction  of  the  sun's  gaseous  body ; 
7,  Dr.  Siemens's  theory  of  disassociation  of  gases  in  space  by 
sunlight  and  heat,  centripetal  suction  at  the  solar  poles,  and 
recombination  and  centrifugal  emission  around  the  sun's 
equator,  21-22. 

The  above  theories  separately  considered,  23-38. 

Not  sufficient,  one  or  all,  39. 

All  fail,  also,  to  account  for  the  solar  hydrogen,  39. 

UNIVERSE. 

Harmony  throughout  the  universe,  68,  153,  341. 
Classification  of  bodies  which  occupy  the,  153. 
Star-drift  through  space,  165. 


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